Adventures on Kiken Island
by onepiece fanatic
Summary: Luffy&crew have actually found the ISLAND OF MEAT! When they attend a party that night though, their musician, Hoshi, is taken away! What're they going to do? Something crazy and impossible, of course... what else? ZoroxOC, PLEASE READ & REVIEW!
1. Banana?

**Author's Note: Original sequel to Feathered Nakama! I hope you like! This chapter's more a flashback for those of you who don't feel like reading Feathered Nakama. Next chapter is where stuff starts happening for real!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, but I own the storyline and Hoshi and her moves.**

Chapter One: Banana?

Hoshi sat in the crow's nest, dozing as she kept one eye cracked open to view the horizon. The events of the past couple days kept playing in her mind over and over…

Flashback

_"Sorry for causing you trouble!" she cried, bowing her head to her knees._

_Luffy… what else… laughed. "Don't worry about it!" he told her warmly. "Are you with the government or something?"_

_Dead silence. The girl's eyes widened, and she started to tremble._

_"Hey, did I guess right? Hello? Are you alrig-"_

_"Do you know how much pain the World Government has caused in my life?" she asked softly. Robin, not really reading but listening in, was startled. Those were the words that she had yelled to a Marine not too long ago, in Arabasta. _

_There was an awkward silence for several seconds, before Luffy decided to break it… as always, without thinking._

_"So… which Devil's Fruit did you eat?" he asked the girl._

_At this, the girl was startled out of her anger. "A Devil's Fruit?" she asked. "What's a Devil's Fruit?"_

_Zoro stared at the girl. He had never seen someone before who had not at least heard of the legendary Devil's Fruits… What sort of background did this girl have?_

_Luffy laughed. "You're an interesting person!" he informed the girl. "What's your name?_

_The girl looked more startled than ever. "Name?"_

_"Yeah, what's your name?" Luffy asked again. "You know, what people call you."_

_"Umm… my name… I'm not really sure… I think it would be Experiment 413."_

"_OH MY GOSH THAT IS SUCH A COOL NAME 'EXPERIMENT 413', WHERE'D YOU GET IT? IT'S AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!! YOU HAVE SUCH A COOL NAME…"_

"'_Experiment 413'? What sort of a name is that?" yelled Zoro over the captain's ranting._

_"It's what they used to call me back where I come from! Is that what a 'name' would be?" …er… Experiment 413 said loudly._

_"A name is a word that people know you by," explained Zoro, quickly speaking in a regular volume as Luffy stopped for breath._

_"Who are you people anyways?" Experiment 413 demanded._

_"Well… I'm Roranora Zoro…" said Zoro uncertainly._

_"I'm Monkey D Luffy! The man who will become the pirate king!"_

_"Pirate King? Wow, that's a high goal… to stand on top of this Pirate Age…" Experiment 413 murmured, looking Luffy over, taking in the red vest, rolled-up blue jeans, straw hat, and overall gangly figure. "You don't really look the type."_

_Luffy laughed. "I get that a lot."_

_"Why do you laugh so much?" _

_"Because there's no point in being sad… It feels bad."_

_"But can't you sometimes feel sad?"_

_"I never let it bother me for too long. Why wouldn't you want to laugh?"_

_"…"_

_"Anyhow," Zoro cut in, "we should let the rest of the crew know that you're awake."_

_"Wait! We have to give her a different name!" yelled Luffy._

_"What? Why?" asked Zoro._

_"I won't let our new nakama be named 'Experiment 413'!!"_

_"What?!"_

_"No one's allowed to have a name cooler than mine!!"_

_"WHAT?!?!?"_

_"Alright, time for a crew meeting!" yelled Luffy._

_"Since when do we have crew meetings?" demanded Usopp._

_"Since now."_

_"ALRIGHT EVERYONE, GATHER AROUND CAPTAIN USOPP'S BARREL FOR THE FIRST OFFICIAL AND LONG OVERDUE CREW MEETING!" screamed Usopp, jumping on top of a barrel standing next to the mast._

_"Okay, to order," said Luffy, stretching out an arm and pushing Usopp off the barrel before jumping on himself. The rest of the crew got sweatdrops (since when did the word 'order' ever come out of Luffy's mouth?), but nevertheless stood around the barrel. _

_"EXPERIMENT 413!!" yelled Luffy, startling her out of that train of thought. "COME HERE!! IT'S TIME TO DECIDE YOUR NEW NAME!!"_

_A new name… could that actually be real? Could the crazy captain actually be serious? She had caught herself wondering more than once why the other… not quite sane people would decide to follow the Straw Hat, who was the insanest of them all._

_"Okay, my submission is Niku-oneechan!!" Luffy put in, to an overall rejection (a rejection that was so loud, it blew him off the barrel). That was a real relief. Experiment 413 wasn't really sure what she would want her new name to be, but she was sure she wouldn't want to go through what was left of her life with the name 'Meat Lady'._

_"Alright, the great Usopp-sama has decided…" Usopp mused, stroking an imaginary beard, then he got an inspiration and pointed at her dramatically, "You will be Pachinko no Hitatsu!" This name too, was greeted with complete rejection, another relief to Experiment 413. She didn't want to go through life with the name 'Pinball of Certain Death' either. Usopp crumpled into a fetal position and faced the wall._

_"Your new name is Mikan! It's perfect for you!" Nami exclaimed. That name was also rejected, and Nami reduced herself to a desolate heap by the wall next to Usopp. That was another relief… 'Tangerine' didn't really seem like a good name._

_Different names and such were argued and rejected… names not limited to common sense. Suggested names were 'Kane-kane onechan', a Nami suggestion meaning 'money-money lady', 'Number-One Beauty', a Sanji contribution. Other names ranged from 'Hitatsu Wagome' or 'sure-death rubber band', Usopp's idea of a great name being skewed anyways, to 'Niku-niku Puncher', another Luffy-idea. _

_"Akahoshi," came the unexpected suggestion from Robin, as the names got wilder and wilder (to a point where it would be pointless to list them all). This name was considered, and having a name that meant 'red star' seemed to be nice, not like the absurd names formerly suggested. "Or maybe just 'Hoshi'," she revised, looking up towards the starry skies arching overhead. Everyone murmured in agreement, and even Nami righted herself from her fetal position to approve the name. Then everyone looked in Experiment 413's direction to see if she would accept or not._

_Hoshi looked around at the crew. They were all smiling reassuringly at her… and she was getting uncomfortable, being the center of this sort of attention. Thinking it over, she saw no reason not to accept the name… these were good people. And amazingly, they treated her and they cared about her as a real nakama, a real human, even though she had been with them for barely any time at all. Things could be different with a new name, different from the past. She would never find out if she didn't accept now… Experiment 413 nodded shyly, and the crew burst into laughter. _

"_ALRIGHT!! It's settled then! Everyone!! Experiment 413 is no longer Experiment 413, but now her name is HOSHI!!" yelled Luffy, apparently having completely forgotten his depression at his suggestions having been completely turned down. The crew approved the new name with enthusiastic shouts and a badly made firework from Usopp._

"_Okay, now that you have a new name, you can be our nakama!" shouted Luffy over the general clamor._

"_What?" The surprised cry rang over the shouts, and silence descended. Experiment 413 was starting to breathe heavily, and was staring at Luffy with mixed emotion. Zoro watched carefully. The girl seemed to be feeling an utterly complex mix of emotion, sadness, pain, rejection, and hope, just to name a few._

"_I said I want you to be our nakama," Luffy said. He might be an idiot, but he wasn't an insensitive idiot. He could see that his offer was making a major impact on her._

"_But why?" The cry that Hoshi gave out held more emotion than she had meant to come out. Nevertheless, she had to make these people understand that she could only stay here until her wing had healed, not as a nakama. She wanted too, so much. They were good people, if a little strange, and they had been kinder to her than anyone she had ever known. But… _

"_I have damn WINGS. I don't know what Devil's Fruit you were talking about earlier, but I didn't get my wings from it. World Government genetic scientists decided that they wanted to graft human DNA with avian DNA, and here I am, the multi-billion Beli result. What they didn't know was that I had a mind, they saw me as an animal. I'm considered a research specimen, not a person! There was a time where I couldn't take it anymore, and I escaped. The government is after their precious experiment, and they'll stop at nothing to get me back! I'm the 413__th__ specimen… Experiment 413… the only successful try out of 500 specimens. I've been betrayed by people who I thought would protect me and help me. They gave up my location for money! Damn green bits of paper meant more to them than I did. You guys… how do I know you're not any different? How can I know that I'm not going to be hurt again!?!" By the end of Experiment 413's speech, she was nearly screaming._

_Zoro saw the crease between her eyebrows deepen, and watched her eyes try to hold back the emotion she was feeling. He was a little unsure of what was going to happen next. He felt that he should do something to comfort Hoshi, but something was holding him back… ah well. Luffy was probably going to do something crazy again. Zoro had spotted THE LOOK in Luffy's eye._

_What Luffy decided to say was this:_

"_**Kampai for our new nakama, Hoshi!!"**__ Luffy yelled. "Sanji!"_

"_Okay," said Sanji, a huge grin on his face. "Chopper."_

"_Oh, okay," Chopper responded. He followed Sanji._

_They both disappeared into storage for two minutes, then came back up with eight ginormous cups and three bottles of wine. Sanji poured everyone some, and the cups were all picked up. Nami shoved a cup into the newly named Experiment 413's hand, and everyone slammed their cups together with a cheer as Hoshi looked with utter disbelief at the scene._

"_**KAMPAAAAAAAI!!"**_

_Experiment 413, looking around, realized that for the first time in her life, she wasn't alone anymore. These people didn't care that she was a mutant, a freak of nature… they saw past that and glimpsed the person behind outer shell, had liked what they had seen, and made her one of their own. They had made her shed her old name and old way of life, old fears and old wounds, and helped her to start anew once again. Hoshi had one thought revolving in her mind… she wasn't alone anymore, she had friends, she had nakama who cared about her, nakama who would never sell her for any amount of green paper…_

End Flashback

Hoshi was pulled out of her memories when she spotted a dark blob on the ocean, and she had no doubt as to what it was. Getting up, she stretched, then took a deep breath…

"HEY!! IT'S AN ISLAND!! WAKE UP EVERYONE! ISLAND!" Hoshi yelled from the crow's nest.

Luffy burst out the door in a flash. "An island!? Where?! Where?!"

"To the front!"

" HOW COOL!! IT HAS A MOUNTAIN SHAPED LIKE A BANANA!!"

Hoshi sweatdropped a little. True, the island had a mountain that looked like a crescent sticking out of it like a pair of bull's horns, but a banana…?

The rest of the crew came up, sleepily rubbing their eyes… except Zoro, who was still sleeping like a rock.

"A mountain shaped like that?" Nami yawned. "I can't imagine something like this forming naturally."

"It really does look like a banana if you look at it like this," Usopp said, tilting his head to one side.

"That's not the problem here!" Nami snapped, whacking the sharpshooter on the head.

"Ah! Nami-san! Robin-chan! Hoshi-chan! Breakfast!" Sanji sang.

Hoshi looked down at the crew from above and grinned. "Be right down!" she called. She scrambled down the rigging and jumped onto the deck with a thump. She started walking towards the kitchen when a pair of rubbery arms stretched past her.

"Ohooo!! Food food food!" Luffy sang as he shot past a wide-eyed Hoshi into the kitchen.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF THE KITCHEN!" Sanji roared, kicking Luffy back out as fast as he had come in. Luffy crashed into the still-sleeping Zoro, who immediately woke up.

"Oi, Luffy, what was that for?!" Zoro demanded, punching Luffy on the head.

"It wasn't my fault! Sanji did it!" Luffy argued, pointing at the open kitchen door.

Hoshi laughed. It wasn't too long ago that the aqua-eyed girl had fallen out of the sky onto this ship… and it was by an insane stroke of luck that by doing that, she now had a place to call home for the first time in her life, with a family to boot. They had defended her from the World Government scientists, and had allowed her to get revenge on the person who had caused the most pain in her life. Now, she was happy and free as anyone could ever hope to be with the craziest people on the face of the planet. No moment on this ship was a quiet moment, but honestly, that was just fine by her. With a new adventure ahead and her nakama all supporting her from behind, what could go wrong?


	2. Island of Meat

**Author's Note: Here's chapter two! I hope you all like!**

**Disclaimer: Oda owns One Piece and makes the money off it, not me. No sue.**

Chapter Two: Island of Meat

The kitchen door closed with a bang. Luffy pouted. "Now there's nothing fun to do…" He leaped up onto his special seat to take a better look at the new island.

As Hoshi ate her food, she watched Usopp came out of the hold, yawning. "Good morning," he said sleepily. "Are we getting close to a new island? That's what I thought I heard."

"Yup!" Luffy laughed, his characteristic grin splitting his face in two. "I can't wait!!"

"Sanji cooking breakfast?"

"All the girls are eating now, he won't let us in yet."

Usopp made a face. "That Sanji… so what should we do until then?"

Luffy thought for a moment (Luffy… thinking?!?!) before he laughed, "Let's play tag!!"

Usopp cheered.

Zoro grumbled and sat back down. "Shut up would you? I need to take my pre-breakfast nap."

"No, you have to play too Zoro!" Usopp said, poking the swordsman.

"How old are you two?!" Zoro stood up in exasperation and started to walk towards the other side of the ship to try to find some peace.

"He's afraid he's going to loooooooose," Usopp said in a stage whisper to Luffy. Luffy chuckled as Zoro froze, a stress mark appearing on his head.

"He's afraid he's going to lo-ose!" Usopp sang, louder this time.

"Shut up!" Zoro said, starting to chase Usopp around the ship.

Usopp started laughing his head off as he ran. "You're way too slow! Can't catch me!"

"Shut up! You just wait until I get my hands on you, you damn long-nosed lia-"

Luffy stretched and hit Zoro on the head. "Oi, Zoro, that's no fair," he whined. "You have to chase me too!"

"I'M NOT PLAYING!" Zoro roared.

"Geez, they're so loud, even when it's this early," Nami muttered around a mouthful of food. She swallowed and stomped outside just as Chopper stuck his head out of the hold.

"Morning already?" the little reindeer mumbled, looking at the sun. He was knocked back into the hold when Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro all stepped on his head, using him as a stepping stone to get across the hold floor. Hoshi could hear him yelling, "AH!! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

"**JUST SHUT UP AND GET IN HERE FOR BREAKFAST!!!**" Nami roared.

Hoshi winced. "O-ow… I think I've gone deaf in my left ear…"

Robin chuckled.

"Nami-san's so cute when she's mad!" Sanji swooned.

A couple minutes later, Nami was regretting telling the guys to come in and take their share of food… namely because Luffy was stretching every which way and stealing everyone's food. Everyone was trying to shield their food and wolf it down at the same time… a feat which most of them were failing miserably at, considering that they had about a quarter amount of the food they originally had. Watching Luffy's pattern carefully, the navigator stabbed her fork into Luffy's hand when it came towards her plate.

"Stop stealing everyone's food!" Nami shouted at him, punching him in the head.

"OOOOOWWWWW!!!" Luffy yelled, spraying everyone on the other side of the table from him with chewed bits of food.

There was a dead silence.

Then Hoshi and Zoro snapped at the same time, leaping over the table in order to beat their captain to a pulp.

"DAMN YOU LUFFY! WATCH WHERE YOU SPIT YOUR FOOD!" Zoro roared tackling Luffy.

"WHY THE HELL WERE YOU STUFFING ALL THE FOOD INTO YOUR MOUTH AT ONCE?!?" Hoshi demanded as she kicked Luffy in the head.

A dust cloud formed. Usopp got dragged into it, while he was trying to stay away from it, and poor Chopper started getting all beat up as he tried to stop the fight. Sanji got involved with a frying pan, telling everyone that no one had better be hurting the lady. It went out the kitchen door and started traveling in crazy patterns across the deck.

Robin delicately wiped her face with a napkin. "I believe that we should make plans for what we are going to do when we land on the island," she said to Nami, the only other one who wasn't in the dust cloud.

Nami sweatdropped. "I suppose you're right… but we need to get the others in here somehow. They don't know the meaning of 'quiet', do they?"

Robin smiled. "If they did, then it wouldn't be the same."

"I guess you're right," Nami sighed, before pushing aside the discarded plates and unrolling a map. "This says that the island coming up is called Kiken Island…"

"I've heard of it," Robin said, leaning over to look. "It's a pretty popular island, like a tourist trap, but I've never personally been there, so I don't know why."

Nami sweatdropped. "Who in their right minds would sail the Grand Line as tourists?"

"Well, it's more like a rest stop than anything," Robin corrected.

"Sounds good!" Nami said, standing. "We need to restock on our supplies."

Shouts came from inside the dust cloud.

"What the hell am I doing in here!? OW! THAT WAS MY NOSE!!"

"If any of you bastards lay a finger on Hoshi-chan-"

"LUFFY YOU MORON! WHY'D YOU SPIT FOOD ALL OVER ME?!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!"

"Plea- ow! Please stop fighting you all!"

"Who's this? I've bending a long pointy thing here…"

"OWW!! THAT'S MY NOSE!!!"

"Oh, hi Usopp."

"Hoshi?!"

Nami sweatdropped before stepping inside the cloud and quickly breaking up the fight. The dust cloud died, and six figures came into view, clutching huge bumps that had risen on their heads.

"Geez, you all are way too loud in the morning," Nami grumbled. "What's the matter with you people?"

They all just groaned.

"Anyways, the island we're coming up on is Kiken Island. According to Robin, it's a good spot to restock on our supplies." Looking pointedly at Luffy, Nami continued. "I don't want anyone causing any trouble or anything that will get us kicked out of town… at least, not till we get our supplies."

"What? Who would do that?" Luffy asked, patting his hat. Everyone sweatdropped.

Nami sighed. "Well, let's start getting ready to dock. Everyone help out!"

Luffy jumped onto his special seat and punched the air in excitement. "Yosh, let's set a course for Kiken, the island of meat!!"

"AYE!" his crew responded.

"Who said it was the island of meat?!" Nami demanded, exasperated.

A couple hours later, everyone was staring until their eyes popped out.

"Whoa…" Nami was speechless.

"I think I'm dreaming…" Usopp muttered.

The crew had docked onto the new island at about noon, and they found out that the island of Masao was actually what Luffy said… it was an island of meat. Meat shops were up and down every single street. There were restaurants that specialized in chicken, fish, pork, beef, and whatever other sort of meat there is.

Luffy had yelled with excitement on first docking… now he just sort of oozed on the ground in a happy daze. Hoshi was laughing herself silly at seeing Luffy. She laughed so hard, tears started streaming out of her eyes.

"Well…" Nami cleared her throat. "Let's restock and supply. We'll meet back here at about six o'clock. Here's everyone's allowance, and don't spend all of it at once."

Everyone lined up to get their allowance. Once they had all received it, they went their separate directions. Luffy raced into the first restaurant he saw, followed by Usopp. Robin and Chopper set out for the nearest bookshop. Sanji went out shopping for the ship's food supply. Nami was running low on paper for her maps, and some of her scoping tools needed updating, so she went to a tool shop. Hoshi set out to find a music store: her flute needed to be cleaned. She walked around, peeking in one shop window and the next. The whole place was like one big tourist trap. Zoro followed her at a distance, keeping an eye on her.

Following Hoshi at a distance proved to have its advantages, as Zoro was able to spot several thugs who were a little shifty-eyed and throwing glances in her direction. They stood grouped around a corner of a fish store, smoking and just standing around.

One of them wolf-whistled softly. "That's one sweet girl Boss," one of the underlings muttered.

Zoro pretended to be interested in a glassy eyed fish looking at him through the store's window.

The 'boss' had torn off the sleeves of his T-shirt, displaying a tattoo of a spiked anchor on his shoulder. He smoked a big cigar, and he looked up to see who his subordinate was referring to. A smirk spread slowly over his face as he realized who he was looking at. He took a big drag on his cigar and then stubbed it out on the wall next to him. "Who's up for a little fun?" he asked.

His subordinates grinned nastily before stubbing out their own cigars. They tramped off in unspoken agreement after Hoshi.

"Tell the others to block off the street," the leader commanded.

Zoro listened to them go, his eyes shadowed under his hair.

Unaware of the danger coming her direction, Hoshi looked at a glass representation of hanging meat through a store that sold souvenirs. "Wow," she murmured. "The artists here are really talented." She leaned in a little closer to the store window, and then noticed several shadows fall across the glass. Looking in the reflection of the glass, she saw the thugs surrounding her, their nasty grins still pasted on their faces. Hoshi felt a flicker of fear. There were six of them, and looking at the reflection of the street behind her, she spotted five more of the same gang. She also noticed the street was strangely deserted… which meant that there were even more of them blocking off both ends of the street.

_Dammit, I'm in trouble_, she thought. Deciding on an unorthodox method of facing people, she spun around and waved cheerily at the six surrounding her. "Good afternoon!" she chimed.

They hesitated for just a second, caught off guard. They had expected her to be intimidated. That second was all Hoshi needed. There was a blast of wind, and Hoshi held her whip in her hands. Cracking it, she knocked one of them over. Not wanting to hurt anyone more than necessary to get away, she left him only a little scratch instead of a fatal cut through his chest.

She ran through the gap as the guy fell over, and sprinted towards the end of the street. It would be a VERY bad idea to fly to escape. The last thing she needed was the underground organization of this city to know her secret.

"There she goes!"

"Don't let her get away!"

"Dammit, she's fast."

Words floated up from behind her, accompanied by running footsteps. Being chased by people who intended to trap her was a horribly familiar experience to Hoshi. Something was pouring through her veins, making her run faster and faster until she almost was flying… whether it was adrenaline or fear, she couldn't tell.

An image of her father figure, bleeding on the ground, struck Hoshi with the equivalent of a physical blow. She fell hard, scraping her right shoulder and elbow on the pavestones. She tried to get back up to keep running, but they were on her before she could do anything.

"Hold her arms!"

"Get that whip out of her hands!"

"Dammit you bastards, let go of me!" Hoshi screamed, fighting a thug who had grabbed her left arm. She cracked her whip on his head a couple times, but because she was lying on the ground, those blows didn't make him do any more than let go. She dodged a second pair of groping hands, and jumped back to her feet. She didn't have time to call up one of her weapons, so she let loose some of her martial arts knowledge. Most of the thugs stepped back, nursing bruises, until they formed a circle around her. More of their nakama started streaming out the alleys in a flood. Soon there were more than forty strong against Hoshi. Zoro watched. _Now what're you going to do, Hoshi?_ he wondered. He wasn't worried, really. Hoshi was strong, and he could step in if it looked like Hoshi was going to loose.

One of them screamed, "What the hell is that sort of fighting?!"

Hoshi grinned wolfishly. "One that I bet you've never seen before," she replied, before launching her next attack. She was DONE being nice.

Hoshi moved like water, flowing seamlessly from one position into another, dealing kicks and punches primarily to exposed necks and guts. She didn't mind breaking a bone here or there either, and she wasn't picky about giving bruises either… she couldn't be picky now. The numbers were too big. She blocked and attacked in a strange manner, her stances and postures unlike anything that had ever been seen before… but that wasn't to say they weren't effective. Zoro, watching from the shadow of a nearby store, grinned. Hoshi was full of surprises.

"Very well done," said a voice. Hoshi spun to face the owner.

"So… are you the leader of this happy little party?" Hoshi asked, her voice light and casual. Her body movements sent a different message. _You are so dead._

"You're quite the chick, aren't you?" the anchor-man asked, paying no attention to the death threat. "How's about spending tonight at one of the nearby bars?"

"Over my dead body."

The anchor-man was unfazed. "There's partyin' every night in this town sweetie. It's not a bad thing."

Hoshi scowled. "I know partying's not all bad."

"Then come with me! There's gonna be rum and karaoke."

"No. You aren't my type at all."

"What sort of man is your type then?"

Hoshi didn't answer before she drew back her fist and punched the man's face with all the strength she could muster. Zoro winced as a nasty crack split the air. The anchor-man fell, his nose horribly misshapen. His eyes were rolled back into his head: he was clearly unconscious.

The rest of the men who were still standing didn't know how to react to their leader being defeated so easily, so they did the only thing that made sense to them at that second… they picked up their leader and ran away.

Hoshi watched their backs distastefully. She groaned and stretched. "Man," she said to the sky, "those guys are nothing but crap."

"I agree with that," Zoro said, stepping out of the alley, grinning. Hoshi grinned back at him.

"How long were you there for?" she asked.

"Long enough."

"Luffy'll be pretty happy, did you hear the part about there being parties every night?"

"Yeah. I bet they'll be giving out some booze, so I'll be there if the rest of us decide to go."

Hoshi groaned. "You drink way too much."

"Shut up!"

She laughed. Glancing at the sky, she saw that the sun was sinking rapidly. "Whatever parties are going to happen are going to happen soon, if my guess is right. Let's get back to the ship and tell the others."

"Sounds good."

They walked together for a short distance before a thought struck Hoshi. "By the way… what were you doing there?"

"Nothing. Just watching," Zoro told the sky.

Hoshi grinned. "Okay by me."


	3. Devil's Hearts and Marines

**Author's Note: I hope people are liking this story! Please review!! **

**Hoshi's songs are "Bon Voyage" by Bon Bon Blanco, and "Before Dawn" by Ai-Sachi.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.**

Chapter Three: Devil's Hearts and Marines

When they got back to the ship, everyone was more than willing to go to a party. It seemed right to go to one… they deserved at least one night of relaxation, didn't they?

The pub that the Straw Hats went to was The Bleating Goat. The second they entered, they were swamped by a wave of sound. People were laughing, having drinking contests, and the karaoke was in full swing. Some tables had even been cleared out to make a dancing floor.

"Pirates!" one of the men laughed, spotting the Straw Hats standing at the door. "Make yourselves at home! Free food and booze tonight!!"

"REALLY!?!?" everyone yelled at the same time.

Luffy immediately ran over to the buffet table and started eating everything. "Food food food!" The people around Luffy stared in astonishment, then started laughing.

Everyone else spread out after taking a couple moments to sweatdrop at their captain.

Usopp jumped onto a table and started telling a bunch of stories (lies) to an amazed crowd with Chopper bringing him props from who-knows-where.

Sanji floated over to a corner where there were several ladies laughing and sipping champagne.

Zoro grabbed a few bottles of wine and went to join in a drinking contest, and he was greeted by cheers of "Hey! It's a new contestant!", and "Welcome!"

Robin started asking the bartender about information on the town, helping herself to a champagne cup.

Nami entered a gambling game and started rolling in cash as soon as she sat down.

Hoshi walked around and snagged a glass of champagne before she walked over to the karaoke stage. Listening, she quickly discovered that most of the people who were singing were drunk… considering that they had terrible voices, were pushing each other, and they were all had really red cheeks.

_Let's give the folks here a decent show_, Hoshi thought, gulping down the champagne and delicately placing the empty cup on a table.

She vaulted onto the stage and grabbed the mike out of the guy's hand. Not bothering to try any sitcom entrances (she'd probably mess them up anyways), she punched in the number of the song she wanted, planted her feet shoulder width apart, and waited for the music to come on. Her voice exploded into song as the music started…

_BON VOYAGE! mabushii hikari o mezashite_

_bokura no KIRAMEKI wa shizumanai taiyou_

_yukou hito kakera no yuuki hirogete_

_mirai e no SHIPPO chotto mieta yo_

Heads started to turn to find the source of the singing. Someone started to clap to the beat, and others joined in, laughing and hooting encouragement. Usopp even stopped telling stories and Luffy came away from the buffet table, holding three slabs of meat in each hand and four in his mouth. Chopper, Usopp, and Luffy all started dancing together in the cleared space in front of the stage, laughing and clapping with everyone else.

_saisho wa minna BARABARA ni egaite ita chiheisen_

_ima nara hitotsu no bouenkyou de nozokeru_

_kimi no KOKORO madowasu unmei no shoppai KONPASU_

_saka te ni kajitoru yo_

As she sang, Hoshi felt that feeling of peace that only music could give her. At the same time, an overwhelming feeling of happiness gave her voice strength. ** This** was all she wanted to ever do, to make music that made other people happy.

_BON VOYAGE! SHIGARAMI mo kako mo sutete_

_bokura nara sore demo waraeteru hazu_

_yume o kanaeru tame no namida naraba_

_oshikukenai Precious in my life Oh..._

_yuganda MIRAA ja ashita wa utsusenai to omotteru ne?_

_demo Sunshine yureru namima ni datte hansha suru_

_kimi ga tobikonda natsu no ookina mizu shibuki_

_sora ni niji o kaketa_

Zoro was already working on his second bottle of wine. A feeling was growing in his chest that he couldn't even begin to explain… but it was a nice feeling as he watched Hoshi standing up there, singing her heart out. She looked different from usual… more something… radiant? He blinked and shook his head a little in exasperation. Since when did he ever notice stuff like that? He grinned as he noticed the change in Hoshi's voice. It went from strong to even stronger as the song neared its peak.

_aoi konna nazo darake no uchuu_

_toki ni wa kanashimi ni mo butsu karu darou_

_HINYARI deguchi no mienai PINCHI_

_...tte yuuka CHANSU_

_kotae wa itsumo Shining in your heart Oh..._

_BON VOYAGE! hageshii nami o nori koete_

_bokura no yakusoku wa nijimanai tegami_

_yukou hito kakera no yuuki de iin janai?_

_ima kono shunkan Precious in my life_

_mirai e no SHIPPO chotto mieta yo_

A storm of applause met the ending of the song. People whistled and cheered. Hoshi grinned somewhat sheepishly but bowed.

"Give us another!" someone yelled. There was a roar of agreement. Hoshi blushed a little, but grinned even more widely.

"You've got it!" she shouted into the mike. The bar cheered as more music came on.

Hoshi kept singing, her clear voice heightening the atmosphere of the party.

_Nemuranai kono machi mo ima dake wa madoromu_

_Kyou kara to kinou made nanika ga kawatte yuku_

_Kitto yarinaoseru hazu_

_Datte hitori ja nai kara_

_Soba ni ite kureru dake de_

_Tsuyoku nareru ki ga suru_

More and more party-goers kept squeezing into the bar as they recognized the song, laughing and singing along.

As Zoro continued working on his second bottle, a dark man with a black beard laughed and clapped his huge hands. "Oi, niichan," the big man laughed, "your friend there is quite a singer!"

"Of course," Zoro said nonchalantly, gulping some more wine and grinning at the man. "She's our crew's musician."

The man guffawed. "Oo, getting protective are we? You her boyfriend or somethin' niichan?"

Zoro gulped more wine and grinned. "Don't get me wrong. She's just a part of our crew."

_Doko made ikeru kana_

_Mirai e tsuzuku basho_

_Tooku de kagayaite sekai wo tsutsumikomu_

_Yoake mae_

The man next to Zoro sobered a bit. "You're going to want to watch out for your friend when the sun shows its damn face here again," he said seriously. Glancing around the bar, he whispered, "The Devil's Hearts are probably going to come after her voice."

_Ao ni naru shu__nkan wo machikirezu hashiridasu_

_Kizuita omoide nado_

_Wasurete shimaeba ii_

_Mayowanaide susumu kara_

_Zutto mite ite hoshii_

_Kotoba ni shinakutemo_

_Yasashisa kanjiteta_

_Nan ni mo kikanaide issho ni ite kureta_

_Yoake mae_

"The Devil's Hearts?" Zoro asked.

"They're a pirate crew that rules this island… very nasty bunch. Them's kill us if we don't pay our tribute on the dot every month. They like getting drunk a lot though, so that's why we hold these huge parties every damn night." The man shrugged. "No reason to skip out on a good time if they're not going to go around killing people. That's why we comes to these."

_Ookina tsubasa o motta_

_Tori ni natta mitai ni_

"What does that have to do with Hoshi?" Zoro asked.

"Them's very fond of music and pretty singers," the man answered bluntly. "When they likes a voice, they takes it for their own."

Zoro raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. The man chuckled. "If you don't believes me, then 's your loss man."

Zoro was going to ask more when Hoshi went into the final verse.

_Doko made ikeru kana_

_Mirai e tsuzuku basho_

_Tooku de kagayaite sekai wo tsutsumikomu_

_Yoake mae_

She bowed to thunderous applause, and stepped off the stage to groans of protest. Waving them off, she snagged a champagne glass and plopped on the couch next to Zoro with a happy sigh.

Zoro grinned. "You seem to be enjoying yourself."

Hoshi drained the champagne glass and put it onto the table with a thump. "I was sooo nervous up there," she admitted. "I've never sung in front of a crowd like that before." This was met by bales of laughter from the people nearby.

A young man in his early twenties snuck up behind the couch and hugged around her the shoulders tightly. He chuckled softly into her ear. "Now do you expect me to believe that?"

Zoro narrowed his eyes. The man he had been talking with earlier sighed sadly and took another gulp from his tankard.

Hoshi rolled her shoulders uncomfortably, trying to dislodge the pushy brown-haired man. "Please let go of me," she said firmly. "I have no interest in you."

Robin watched from the bar with impassive eyes.

The man gave another throaty chuckle, his alcoholic breath making Hoshi cough. "We'll see about that," he whispered, tightening his grip. Zoro scowled.

Hoshi reached up and peeled the man off her. "I _said_ that I'm not interested," she growled, pushing the man by his chest into some of his friends standing around before turning her back on him. She reached out and grabbed a glass of water from a passing tray.

Without any warning, the man came back, turned her around, grabbed her chin, and kissed her full on the mouth. His tongue barged into her mouth as he grabbed the nape of her chin and pulled her closer and hooted encouragement. Hoshi's eyes widened in horror.

The man withdrew his tongue when he felt the tip of something metallic and sharp at his throat. Zoro held his Wadou in a steady grip. "What the hell do you think you're doing, bastard?" the swordsman asked, venom dripping from his voice.

Hoshi looked at Zoro, surprised. "Zoro…"

Despite the fact that there was a sword at his throat, the man grinned. "I'm thinking I like the taste of your friend here," he replied, before kissing Hoshi again. His tongue barged into her mouth again and resumed its unwanted exploration.

Hoshi was stunned for a second, before anger erupted inside her. She slapped the man away, gagging and spitting onto the floor. Far from discouraging the man however, an insane fire lit in his eyes and he grabbed her shoulders roughly and made her stand up. "You're my type!" he crowed. "I like a woman who doesn't give in easily!"

He placed a hand decorated with rings onto her cheek and pulled her closer for another kiss while his companions hooted. Hoshi would have pulled away, but several of the man's rings were made up of silver… the equivalent of Kairoseki for Hoshi. Raging inside at her helplessness against the damn metal, Hoshi felt all the strength flee her limbs. It was all she could do to remain standing against the weakening effects of the silver. _Dammit… dammit… dammit!!_ was all Hoshi had the energy to think as the man's tongue barged against her tightly sealed lips.

Zoro was badly confused for a second. _Why isn't Hoshi doing anything?_ he thought. _She couldn't be… enjoying this…?_ Then the rings flashing in the dim light caught his attention. Something clicked in his mind, and he hit the guy with the flat of his blade on his temples. The man dropped, unconscious, and companions laughed. "Don't mind him," one of them said good-naturedly. "He can get pretty perverted when he gets drunk," another called as they hauled him off.

Hoshi fell onto the couch again, her whole form trembling from the after-effects of shock and silver.

Zoro took a deep breath to let out his concern (Oi, what the hell was wrong with you?!?!) before he looked at her face and let it out, saying nothing. He didn't think Hoshi would've heard him anyways… she seemed to be half-conscious. He sheathed his blade again and sat next to her.

Nami called over, "Oi, Zoro, what's your problem?"

"Nothing," Zoro responded, picking up his tankard again.

"Is that so?" Nami smirked. She excused herself from the card game and planted herself in front of Zoro with an evil grin. "You seemed pretty upset when Hoshi got kissed by someone else."

"It's not my problem."

"But you came to her rescue quite willingly, didn't you?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"See? You're getting all worked up over Hoshi!"

"WHO'S getting all worked up over WHAT?" Zoro demanded.

Nami sighed. "You're hopeless."

Hoshi groaned and sat up straight.

Zoro glanced at Hoshi. "You alright?"

"My mouth feels like crap," Hoshi responded, spitting on the floor. "I'm going to go get something to eat," she announced, walking off to the buffet table Luffy was raiding. He watched her leave out the corner of his eye.

Nami tapped his forehead with two fingers. "You really are hopeless," she told the green haired swordsman.

Zoro shrugged. "So you've said already."

Grabbing a (miraculously) untouched leg of chicken, Hoshi dug in and watched everyone else dancing around to some more karaoke singers. There was something more than what she had told Zoro was wrong… she felt odd inside, unsettled. Scavaging around her mind, she searched for possible reasons. Was it because she had gotten kissed? No… this didn't have so much to do with getting kissed by a drunk perv than Zoro's reaction to it...

Luffy stretched and grabbed the chicken out of her hands, eating it whole and interrupting her thoughts. A stress mark appeared on Hoshi's head. "OI!" she roared. "THAT WAS MINE!!"

"But I ate it already!" Luffy protested, shoving more food into his mouth.

"GIVE IT BACK!" Hoshi yelled, crushing Luffy's rubber neck in both hands.

"I can't! I've already swallowed it!" he choked.

"You've already eaten everything else! What am I supposed to eat now, huh?!"

"You can e-"

The bar suddenly fell silent. Looking up to find the reason for this, the Straw Hats spotted a man standing in the door. Upon seeing him, Hoshi started to sweat. _The man had a military uniform on._ A thrill of dread embedded itself in the bit of her stomach and started to grow.


	4. Taken Away

**Author's Note: longer chapter here today since a whoooole ton of stuff happens! I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: same same**

Chapter Four: Taken Away

"Anyone here with a bounty, step forward now and we will make your arrest less painful!" the Marines officer boomed. "If you do not step forward now, be sure that you will not be treated with any mercy later!"

Nami, Usopp, and Chopper started sweating. _Crap_, they all thought in unison.

A particularly drunk man waved his arm and threw his cup at the officer. "Come on now!" the guy yelled, his words slurred. "We're all from town in here!"

The Straw Hats breathed a silent sigh of relief. _Thank the drunk guy…_

"Well, except for the guy in the straw hat and his crew. They're from out of town!" the man cackled. "Ouuut of toooowwwn…" he sang, before going into a fit of hysterics and passing out on the table.

Hoshi had only one thought running through her head. _Oh damn…_

The Marine officer looked at Luffy and shifted through a pile of Wanted posters for a second. "Ah yes, here you are. Monkey D Luffy, wanted Dead or Alive for 100,000,000 Beli."

Luffy nodded cheerfully as he stuffed half a chicken into his mouth. "Yup, that's me," he said around the food.

Everyone sweatdropped. "Oi…"

"You and your crew are hereby under arrest. Come with us quietly and we will not have to harm you."

"Don't feel like it," Luffy candidly replied, chomping down more food.

The Marine's eyebrow twitched. "Unfortunately, you have no choice in the matter," he informed Luffy tightly. One subtle hand signal later, Marine soldiers began swarming the bar. They surrounded all the Straw Hats and pointed six vicious looking spears at each of them.

There was absolutely no movement for a second except for Usopp, Nami, and Chopper all shivering violently… and of course, Luffy continued eating as though there was nothing wrong.

"Mm, this food is good!" he told no one in particular.

"DO YOU GET THE SITUATION WE'RE IN?!?" Nami screamed.

Hoshi's heart was pounding with fear as memories exploded in her mind. A cage, white jackets, glass tubes, dark spaces with flashing lights… Her hands clenched and unclenched and sweat was pouring down her face. If she had to endure this for too much longer…

It was at this moment that the Marine officer chose to look at Hoshi. His eyes widened, and he started shuffling through his Wanted posters again. Hoshi scowled darkly as he took one out of the pile and read it off. "Wanted… ALIVE," he said with some surprise. "Experiment 413, wanted for 250,000,000 Beli." He raised an eyebrow. "Quite popular, aren't you? What sort of a name is that?"

Hoshi's eyes were hidden under her hair, but her face became darker than the underside of a thundercloud. "Experiment 413… huh?" she asked through ground teeth. "Who's name is that again?" she demanded, making direct eye contact with the officer, venting all her fury into the gaze. Her aqua eyes were burning with years of suppressed rage and pain.

The man started sweating, but to his credit, he held his ground. "You are hereby to be sent back to the World Government laboratory on Enies Lobby," he informed her, taking out a silver chain bracelet.

A spark of horrified recognition appeared on Hoshi's face. "That bracelet…"

The officer grinned, gaining some confidence. "Yes, you should recognize this… as well as the true object of the mission we were sent on."

Hoshi was confused for a second, then her eyes widened with rage as something clicked in her mind. Shock and fear seemed to radiate out of her very being. Zoro looked at her and narrowed his eyes, resting a hand on the hilts of his blades.

The officer laughed. "You understand now! That should make this a lot easier. The Straw Hats bounty was a rather fortunate stroke of luck, wouldn't you say? I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity, Experi-"

"DON'T CALL ME BY THAT NAME!!" Hoshi roared, cutting him off. Her fists were clenched, and she was trembling in anger. "That name… I HATE IT," she whispered ferociously.

Zoro walked out of the circle of spears encircling him calmly and placed a hand on Hoshi's shoulder. "Oi, cool down a bi-"

Hoshi spun around, fury in her eyes. "'Cool down'? You all got dragged into this 'cause they were chasing after ME, and I'm supposed to 'cool down'?! You all aren't a part of this! I can't… I didn't want this to hap-"

"Hoshi," Luffy interrupted. "We're your nakama. Did you forget that already?" He gave her one of his characteristic grins. "You don't fight alone anymore, understand?"

Hoshi stood straighter, stunned. "Luffy…"

All the Straw Hats put down whatever they were doing and smiled reassuringly. "We're your nakama!" Luffy repeated. He raised a fist, and pointed at the officer. "AND YOU'D BETTER REMEMBER THAT, YOU SHITTY MARINE BASTARD!!" he yelled.

A stress mark appeared on the Marine's head. "Attack!" he ordered.

The Marine soldiers yelled and lunged with their spears as the civilians squashed themselves into the corners of the bar, as far as they could away from the fight. A whole bunch of things happened at once.

"Don't point those dangerous things at me," Robin chided the Marines. She crossed her arms across her chest. "Veinte Fluers." She sprouted a bunch of hands out of the arms of the Marines that redirected the spears, causing them to impale one another.

"Epaule! Cotette! Selle! Chicot! Collier! Poi Trine!" Sanji yelled, attacking all the Marines surrounding him. Dodging the blades on the spears, the cook spun on his hands and sent Marines flying every which way with his attacks.

Zoro pulled out two of his swords and took his stance. The soldiers surrounding him started sweating a bit, but they kept their ground and attacked. (…you did have to feel sorry for them…) Zoro blocked all their attacks and responded with one of his own. "Nitouryuu… Takanami!" All the soldiers surrounding him, needless to say, fell.

A flash of lightening appeared out of the air. Through the thunder that followed, Hoshi could make out Nami's voice. "Clima Tact… Thunderbolt Tempo!!" The Marines around her all fell, all charred black. She made a peace sign and grinned. "I win!"

Usopp screamed and ran around a bit before realizing that it wasn't working. "Guess there's no choice… I'll have to use _that_," he muttered. He reached into his purse… and took out a small chalkboard. "Usopp… NOISE!" he yelled, scratching his fingernails down the chalkboard. The Marines surrounding him screamed and fell to the ground, trying in vain to protect their tortured ears.

"Heavy Point!" Chopper swung his huge fists and sent soldiers flying right and left. A few of them hit some open-jawed bystanders, knocking them unconscious. "Ah!! Sorry!" he tried to apologize while holding off several Marines at once. "Sorry! Sorry!"

Luffy ducked a couple spears and drew back his leg, grinning. "Gomu Gomu no…" he yelled, kicking his leg in a circle, "MUCHI!!" The soldiers all crashed into each other and yelling, they flew through the wall of the bar.

Hoshi grinned and pulled out her whip from the air. _My turn…_she thought. "Kaze Kakuhan… Shiruba Hebi!" she roared. Her whip whistled through the air and bit all the soldiers around her. Zoro grinned as he watched the whip fly. _A 'Silver Snake' indeed, _he thought while carrying out several attacks of his own.

Suddenly, the captain of the attack moved in. He came behind Hoshi and grabbed her neck. Hoshi gasped, and immediately went limp. "Dammit…" she croaked. With a grunt of effort, she raised her hands and tried to wrench the hand holding the bracelet off of her neck, her aqua eyes desperate. "Get… off… me…!"

The captain grinned. "Thank you for making my job easier," he said, grabbing one of her hands and clasping the bracelet tightly onto her wrist. He dropped her onto the ground, where she lay in a trembling heap. Hoshi weakly clawed at the bracelet, but her hands were shaking too hard to unclasp it.

"You're mine!" he yelled, kicking her brutally. Hoshi cried out with pain.

Zoro turned at the sound, his eyes burning. "You **bastard**!" he roared, running in to attack.

The Marine officer picked up Hoshi and held his own katana to her throat. "Just try it, swordsman!" he goaded. "Try it and she dies!"

"Hoshi!" All the Straw Hats immediately stopped attacking.

Zoro froze. A smirk stole across the officer's face. "That's more like it." Addressing Hoshi, he whispered in her ear, "I know some World Government scientists who are just screaming to get their hands on you. I've heard they've got all sorts of fun things waiting for you back at the lab, comfy beds, exercise machines, hot tubs…"

Hoshi's eyes widened with fear. She struggled against the man's grip, but she might as well have been attacking him with popcorn. He laughed and shook her roughly, causing her already-weakened joints to give out completely. "All of you!" he roared to the Straw Hats, "Come quietly, or else your so-called 'nakama' here dies!"

A small tear was forming at the corner of Hoshi's eye. _Dammit_… she thought. _Dammit… dammit… dammit… dammit! They're all going to get taken away because I'm so damn useless against a hunk of cheap metal!_ she raged inwardly.

Luffy stuck out his tongue. "Like hell!" he retorted. "We're not going, and we're not letting you take her away! Hoshi belongs with us!"

"Oh? You're going to stop me?" The Officer gently drew his blade across Hoshi's neck. A shallow cut followed the blade, and thin stream of red blood trickled down Hoshi's neck. She winced.

Zoro growled ferociously at the sight of it. He drew his Wadou and put it in his mouth. Luffy glanced at him. "Zoro?"

"I'm not going to take any more of this crap," Zoro said simply, preparing to attack. Luffy hesitated for a second, then nodded. _Carefully now…_he told himself. _If you slip the slightest bit, you're going to hit Hoshi…_ "Santoryuu…" He charged. "Hyou Kin Dama!"

After the attack, there was absolutely no movement for a split second.

Then the man dropped Hoshi, falling to his knees as a gash opened on his chest.

Zoro quickly sheathed his swords and ran to Hoshi. "Oi, Hoshi, you alright?" he asked, bending down and taking off the silver bracelet.

She sat up blearily and swayed a little. "That damn metal…" she moaned, putting her forehead in one hand. Zoro grinned in relief.

Hoshi looked at the bracelet he held in his hand. Upon seeing it, she shuddered and made a face. "Zoro… do you mind putting that away?" she asked. Zoro looked at the silver thing in his hand with some confusion. "I… I've seen that thing too many times.

Zoro got the idea. He tucked it into his waistband, then offered a hand to help her stand. She took it and despite the circumstances, Zoro thought her hand was uncommonly warm…

"THIS ISN'T THE END OF THIS!" the Officer roared, standing up with the help of a subordinate. "You'll pay for this, Straw Hats! You'll pa-"

Suddenly, there was a huge boom that shook the ground. Everyone yelled and grabbed a hold of something in an attempt to stay upright. Hoshi, not prepared and stiff suffering the after-effects of the silver, lost her footing and fell against Zoro. Not knowing what else to do, she clung to him to stay standing. Zoro grabbed her underneath her shoulders to support her and seized the side of a table with his other hand.

"What the hell!" Nami screamed.

Hoshi looked up as the shocks stopped shaking the building. People started picking themselves off the ground. Murmurs of "What the hell was that?" were heard all around.

The question was answered when a big man came barging through the doors of the bar for the second time that evening. He had a red T-shirt, black shorts, and a long jacket that hung down towards his ankles draped around his shoulders. A well-polished steel spear with a foot-long blade was strapped onto his back. There was a long scar running horizontally down the center of his face, and he was flanked by several equally rough-looking men.

A deathly silence followed the man's appearance. He cackled, and something in the cackle reminded Hoshi of a vulture's hoarse cry.

"So these are the Marine's whose boat I blew up at the dock, huh?" the man asked in gravely tones.

The captain paled. "It… it can't be…!"

The man smirked. "Oh but it is, unfortunately for you." He picked up the Marine and threw him into the air. The Marine was sent flying through the wall by a strong roundhouse kick.

The drunk man woke up. "Huh? What happened?" Looking around through bloodshot eyes, his gaze landed on the man who had just entered. One second later… "AH! IT'S EL CORAZON, LEADER OF THE DEVIL'S HEARTS!!"

Corazon growled with annoyance. He walked up to the man and held him up off the ground by the cuff of his shirt. "Damn right it is," he said, before throwing the man behind the bar. There was a spectacular crash of glass as the man hit the wine bottles lined up on the shelf.

"I hate runts like you," Corazon spat. Then he cast an eye around the bar. "I was walking by here a while ago, before this damn Marine came and spoiled the party, and I heard a sweet voice on the karaoke. Might I ask who it was?"

The people froze. "Oh come on, I'm just asking who it was!" Corazon laughed. "I'm not going to hurt her or anything… just thinking about inviting her over to my place. So tell me," he said, glancing around. "Who was it?"

"It… it must have been your imagination," one of the men spoke up. "We didn't have nobody like that on tonight… just the regular bums who've had a drop too much to dri-"

Faster than the eye could follow, the poor fellow was being choked against the wall by a huge hand. "You calling me a liar?" Corazon whispered.

The man's eyes bulged as he shook his head furiously, not enough air in his windpipe to say anything. Corazon dropped him, and he lay gasping on the ground. "I know what I heard, and I know I heard a voice that I liked for once, instead of you regular bums," Corazon said, turning to face the whole bar. "If someone doesn't speak up soon, people are going to get hurt."

Corazon took a couple steps forward. "Who was it?" he demanded again. "I'll destroy this bar if someone doesn't talk!"

Zoro felt the atmosphere in the bar start to reach the breaking point as eyes started flicking towards Hoshi standing beside him. Her expression was cold, but her eyes were flickering with the suspense. She knew as well as he did that someone was going to talk soon.

Nami twirled and tightened her grip on her Clima Tact. Usopp rechecked his ammunition as Sanji lit a fresh cigarette. Robin stood up off her stool and crossed her arms. Chopper was sweating, but he took out a small yellow ball from his pack Luffy cracked his knuckles.

The drunk man picked himself up. "Eh? You're looking for a swagger, I mean, singer?" he slurred. He jabbed his thumb at Hoshi. "She was up earlier tonight. Good song, I mean singer, she is, that she is."

Corazon turned slowly towards Hoshi and Zoro. "You're the singer?" he asked Hoshi. "You were the one who sang 'Bon Voyage'," he said more definitely, a smirk stealing over his face. "I can tell just by looking at your face."

Zoro's jaw tightened. "And what's it to you?" he demanded, putting a hand on the hilts of his blades.

Corazon glanced at him. "This doesn't concern you, _boy_," he sneered. "Move aside."

"Like hell."

Corazon sneered. "You want to die, brat?" he asked, holding up a fist.

"Not really."

"Then get out of the way!" Corazon roared, punching Zoro without any warning. Zoro grunted as he flew into a table, breaking it in half.

"Zoro!" Hoshi yelled, spinning around to see where he had landed. She froze as a huge hand clapped itself over her mouth and a the blade of his staff placed to her throat. Only one word was in Hoshi's mind. _Shit._

Zoro sat up in the wreckage of wood that was once a table, rubbing his head. "Damn, that hurt," he muttered. His eyes narrowed coldly as he saw the situation that Hoshi was in.

Hoshi tried to speak through the man's hand, but what came out was "Mm! Mmmph m mmph!"

Corazon looked at Hoshi, amusement in his eyes. "What, trying to talk now are w- OUCH!!" he yelled as Hoshi bit his hand.

"Don't fight!" Hoshi managed to yell before Corazon grabbed her arm.

"Bitch!" he shouted, squeezing her upper arm really hard. Hoshi screamed with pain as a crack like a gunshot split the air. She fell to her knees, holding the broken spot in a tight grip as her face went deathly pale. A solid red haze filled her vision to fade slowly as the initial shock faded slightly.

Corazon laughed. "That's what you get for refusing me, you damn-" He didn't finish his sentence because an intent of killing suddenly swamped his consciousness. Turning to find the source, he came face to face with Zoro's death glare. Shrugging, he placed his blade on Hoshi's throat and tilted her head upwards. He laughed at her pained face. "I guess you'll cause me no more trouble," he commented, picking her up by her unharmed arm and starting to drag her away.

"I told that Marine, and now I'm telling you," Luffy growled, "She's my _nakama_, and you can't take her away!" he yelled, throwing a punch.

The man's cronies entered the fight. One shirtless man with torn jeans grabbed Luffy's oncoming fist, and swung him into the wall as if he was nothing more than a doll.

After running away from one with hair that looked like a fish tail sticking out of his head, Usopp fired a Tabasco Bomber into his mouth. The man yelled, and stumbled around, looking for a water jug.

A woman with mousy brown hair snuck up behind Robin and placed a gloved fingertip to her neck. Robin lurched and clung to the bar for support as the bit of Kairoseki in the glove took effect.

A guy with a handlebar mustache drew a sword and blocked Zoro's attack before slamming him into a table for the second time that day… only, this table had shards of broken glass on it. Zoro yelled as the shards bit deeply into his back.

"**ZORO**!!!" Hoshi screamed as she was dragged out the door. "Everyone! Please **STOP FIGHTING**!!" Tears ran down her face. Everyone stopped moving.

Corazon stopped. "Eh? You want to say some last words to your nakama? Go ahead," he laughed. "This should be amusing!"

"Shut up!" Hoshi yelled at him. "These aren't my last words!" She turned back to face the rest of the Straw Hats. "Stop fighting, all of you! I promise… I promise that I'll escape! If I'm not out in three days, you can assume something's wrong, okay?" Hoshi grinned weakly, barely able to see her friends through the haze of pain that was blurring her vision. "I promise…" she whispered.

Corazon laughed and resumed dragging her away. He waved cheerily at the Straw Hats. "As if you'll be able to get away! Guess I'll be seeing you all again in three days!"

Corazon's cronies started laughing with him as they filed out the door, and the Straw Hats watched in stunned silence as the group disappeared, taking Hoshi with them.


	5. Masquerade!

**Author's Note: THANK YOU FLAREY PHOENIX FOR REVIEWING!!! **

**Disclaimer: don't own One Piece, get the idea already**

Chapter Five: Masquerade!

"_Shut up!" Hoshi yelled at him. "These aren't my last words!" She turned back to face the rest of the Straw Hats. "Stop fighting, all of you! I promise… I promise that I'll escape! If I'm not out in three days, you can assume something's wrong, okay?" Hoshi grinned weakly, barely able to see her friends through the haze of pain that was blurring her vision. "I promise…" she whispered._

_Corazon laughed and resumed dragging her away. He waved cheerily at the Straw Hats. "As if you'll be able to get away! Guess I'll be seeing you all again in three days!" _

_Corazon's cronies started laughing with him as they filed out the door, and the Straw Hats watched in stunned silence as the group disappeared, taking Hoshi with them._

In the morning, the Straw Hats were gathered again on the deck of the Going Merry… minus one. They stood around the deck, silent, each doing their own thing and trying not to look at the rigging, Hoshi's favorite relaxing spot.

Glancing at the rising sun, Sanji stood up and stretched from where he had been sitting. "So… anyone want anything to eat?" he asked. No one answered, but he sensed a dim acknowledgment. "If anyone has any requests, just yell them through the door," Sanji said, walking towards the kitchen.

The cook had almost reached the kitchen when a voice boomed through the early morning air. "STRAW HAT!!"

All heads turned towards the dock. "Ah," Luffy noticed. "It's the Marine ossan from last night."

"What do you want?" Zoro yelled irritably. "If it's a fight you want, you've got one here."

"How rude," the Marine answered candidly.

Zoro's face darkened. Hoshi's scream of pain when her arm had been broken had been playing through his head like a broken record player. He had no idea why it was bothering him so much… but it did. The night had left him in an extremely foul mood.

"I've come with an offer, Straw Hat. Would you like to hear it?"

Luffy instantly replied, "We're not interested. Go away."

Nevertheless, the Marine continued. "You have lost a nakama and I have lost my pride, both at the hands of the Devil's hearts, led by El Corazon. This is an unorthodox offer, but I will make it anyways." He paused for effect.

"What exactly would this offer be?" Nami asked.

"We join forces, _temporarily_ mind you, to overthrow the Devil's Hearts. Once they are done for, I will give you and your crew free passage from this island and no ships under my command will give chase."

"That's a pretty good offer," Usopp said, "but how do we know you're telling the truth?"

"I swear upon my name, Commander Elwin of the Third Division, that this is not a tra-"

"I refuse."

Everyone looked at Luffy, his eyes hidden under his hat.

"Hey come on Luffy, that's a good offer! Why don't we take it?" Usopp asked. "We'd get Hoshi back and a free passage o-"

"I said no." Luffy's voice was serious. "Marine ossan, that IS a good offer, but you have one thing wrong. We haven't lost Hoshi."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Elwin snapped. "Your nakama was taken away last night, I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Are you deaf?" Luffy demanded. "If you were there, you must have heard…"

"_Stop fighting, all of you! I promise… I promise that I'll escape! If I'm not out in three days, you can assume something's wrong, okay?" Hoshi grinned weakly. "I promise…" she whispered._

"I don't take people I don't trust onto my ship," Luffy said simply. "Hoshi said she was going to get out, and so that's what she's going to do."

Elwin was speechless for a moment in the face of such trust, then he scowled. "Don't come to me for help in three days," he growled, stalking away. "This was a one-time offer. I'm not giving it again."

"I told you already," Luffy said, getting annoyed, "We don't want it."

The Marine refused to answer as he turned his back and walked away.

* * *

_There were sharp silver needles everywhere, pointing directly at her, but when she cried out and tried to shield herself, her arms wouldn't move without spasms of pain. She screamed as they started to fly towards her. Then the needles all changed direction at the last second, transformed themselves into glass shards, and stuck themselves into Zoro's back as he fell through a table. His yell of pain went on and on… she tried to run and help him, but she something was wrong. No matter how fast or hard she ran, he just kept sliding farther and farther away. Suddenly she was caught in a giant hand. She struggled and screamed, but she couldn't escape, and its grip tightened until she could barely breathe. She turned to face her captor… and the symbol of the World Government, outlined in black light, loomed taller than anything she had ever seen before. It started falling down, and it was going to crush her! She screamed and struggled wildly against the hand, but she looked and saw that it had turned into steel. There was nothing she could do but struggle and scream as it fell closer and closer…_

Hoshi woke up as a spasm of pain bolted through her broken right arm. Gritting her teeth, she managed not to scream. She sat up, and noticed a million things at once.

Her arm had been put into a well-made splint. She was also in the most luxurious room she had ever seen. There was a small oak tea table with cushioned chairs. Picking one up, she saw that the cushions were woven out of silk. A plush carpet covered most of the floor, but lifting up a corner, Hoshi saw that the floor was made from cedar. The walls were made out of some smooth white stone, and there was a finely decorated wardrobe in one corner. Opening it, she saw a row of elegant dresses, each more finely made than the next, looking like they had come straight from a queen's wardrobe of the Middle Ages. There was a set of double doors which she assumed led into the hallway of wherever this place was, and a smaller door led to the bathroom. There was a golden shower room with a sliding glass door, and the sink was made from gold as well, molded so a dragon spat out the water. The toilet and the counter were made of that same white stone that seemed to make up most of the room. The bed was probably the most comfortable she had ever slept on. It was a four poster bed with elegant, forest-green drapery, and the sheets were also made of silk.

Hoshi was starting to wonder if she had really been taken prisoner when an important fact caught her eye. _There were no windows in this room._

"Madam?"

Hoshi jumped and whirled. One of the double doors had been opened, and a man in a finely tailored suit had poked his head through the door.

"Who are you?" Hoshi snapped. "Where am I?"

"I am your butler, madam. Should you need anything, please press this button," he said, indicating a button to the right of the bedpost. It was the same color as the wall, explaining why Hoshi hadn't noticed it before.

"That doesn't answer my second question."

"You are in the home of Master Corazon madam."

Hoshi gritted her teeth. _That bastard…_

"Master Corazon has sent me to inform you that there will be a masquerade party tonight. He asks you to be adequately dressed," he said, gesturing towards the wardrobe, "and to prepare several songs to sing for his guests."

"A dinner party? Just how long was I in here?"

"You have been here for a two days and one night, madam."

Hoshi was getting irritated. "Firstly, cut it with all the 'madam's, I'm no lady. Secondly, give me a good reason why I should perform for this Corazon bastard."

The butler looked terrified. "I-I would h-highly recommend doing as M-Master Corazon orders. H-he is a v-very powerful man."

Hoshi sighed and looked at her arm. Though something like this would take a few months to heal for a regular person, thanks to World Government genetic scientists, her arm would be as good as new by tonight or tomorrow morning… considering how long her body had made her sleep. If the had slept for almost twenty eight hours, that meant that major healing had went into her arm. The arm wasn't broken through entirely anymore, just cracked. As long as she could take it easy tonight, she could even take the splint off. (The fact that her bones were hollow, like a bird's, might help that fact though.) It would be better to play the guy's game until she could find some way to escape. "Tell him I'll be there."

* * *

Zoro had been irritable, more so than usual, so everyone had left him alone for the past couple days. He couldn't stand the thought of just waiting on the ship, doing nothing, so he took a walk through the city towards noon on the second day. He caught some conversation between a couple guys on a street corner. 

"Argh, that party last night was awesome!" one guy sighed. "I had a damn hangover this morning, but that was a good party!"

"Yeah," his companion agreed. "Though tonight, Devil's Hearts have banned all parties so everyone can come to the masquerade dance tonight at their place."

"Another one?!"

"Yeah, isn't it annoying? I hate getting dressed up, but I'll go for the girls!"

"Speaking about girls, I think the masquerade is Corazon showing off the new singer he's got."

"Eh? That's something. Are you gonna go?"

"I'm going! I want to get a look at this new girl."

As the two walked away, still chatting, Zoro remained expressionless.

"A masquerade?" Nami asked in surprise when Zoro reported what he had heard to the crew later.

"Apparently Hoshi's going to be there, the main attraction," he grumbled.

"Well, it couldn't hurt to go, right?" Usopp asked, looking at Luffy. "We could just go and make sure she's okay."

"Could we somehow let her know that we're there? Like a note or something?" Chopper asked.

"We might be able to do that," Robin agreed. "Some of us would have to stay on the ship though."

"A masquerade?" Luffy asked. "What's that?"

"IDIOT!" the crew yelled at him.

"A masquerade is a party where people dress formally, put on masks, and dance," Nami explained while stretching Luffy's ear as far as she could make it. Letting it snap back, she surveyed the crew. "Yosh, here's what we'll do then..."

* * *

"Remember," Nami hissed as she led the other two into among the crowds heading towards the masquerade, "this is not a rescue mission. We're just here to make sure Hoshi's alright, you got that?" Nami was wearing a full length gown, a delicate shade of pink. Ruffles of lace trimmed the hem of the sleeves and the bottom, and a golden-colored bodice criss-crossed her waist. A mask that covered her eyes and nose of the same color hid her face. Gold drops hung from her ears, and a matching gold drop hung on a fine chain around her neck. 

"Understood," Robin smiled under her own purple mask. Robin was dressed in a simple, dark purple gown. A trim of silver ribbon snaked around her neckline, sleeves, and the bottom of the gown. White beads showed her waistline. Silver studs were set in her ears, with a charm in the shape of a flame hanging around her neck.

"I don't get why I had to come," Zoro growled.

"Oh come on!" Nami chuckled. "You're just DYING to see Hoshi, aren't you?"

"Besides," Robin cut in, before Zoro could say anything. "You look handsome in that. I bet Hoshi will like it."

Zoro couldn't believe he was doing this. He was in a sword fighter's outfit from the Middle Ages, his pants colored dark navy and his top only slightly lighter. The lace on the cuffs was really bothering him; it was itching. His mask was similar to a joker's mast, but only the top half. The left side was a dark blue while the other was stark white. Nami had only let him bring one sword, saying that two or three would be too conspicuous, so he had brought his Wadou along. He felt absolutely ridiculous, not to mention unprepared with only one sword at his side.

"Geez, where is this guy's house anyways?" Nami grumbled later. The crowd had led them into the forest on the outskirts of town and seemed to keep going forever. "It feels like we've been walking a while."

"We're coming between the two mountains we saw earlier," Robin told her. "I think his house must be set between them."

"The ones that Luffy said looked like a banana?" Nami clarified.

Robin nodded.

As they turned a bend, a shining white light almost blinded them. When their eyes cleared, there was a magnificent castle right between the mountains, just as Robin had said.

"Is this guy obsessed with the Middle Ages or what?" Zoro wondered aloud. One of the passerbies heard him and laughed.

"No, our former kings were," she explained. "Corazon kept our traditions, but demands absolute obedience and makes us pay much higher taxes, and he's not of royal blood."

"Hush!" her friend hissed, pulling her away. "It's treason to talk like that!"

Zoro wasn't really paying attention. Robin was the historian, not him. He looked at the castle and his eyes narrowed under his mask.

* * *

Hoshi was really nervous. She was going to have to sing in front of people again, and she had spent the past half-hour singing snippets of different songs, trying to decide which ones were appropriate for a masquerade. (Considering she had never been to a formal event of any kind before, this was really hard.) 

She had chosen a sky-blue dress with a white pattern on the skirt. The top snugly fit her body, with a slight gold trim on the neckline. The sleeves reached about two/thirds down her arm, before the cuffs blossomed outward towards her hands. Small gold hoops were set into her ears, and her special crystal hung from her neck as it always did. The mask she chose was white, and was bordered with gold trimming around the edges and eyeholes.

"Madam? The guests have begun to arrive." The butler was back. "You look ravishing, madam."

Hoshi sighed. "What did I tell you about calling me 'madam'?" she demanded. "I'm not a damn lady."

The butler bowed. "Of course, madam. Master Corazon sent me to tell you that he would like to see you before he lets you attend the masquerade."

_Now what?_ Hoshi thought as she followed the butler through the halls. The little man bowed as he opened the door to a room. "He will see you now, madam."

Corazon was waiting in the little hall at the top of the stairs that led to the great hall. Dressed in a hunter's outfit, he turned when he heard the door opened, and a smile cracked his face as he saw her there. "Hello singer," he said in that vulture-like voice of his. "Are you ready?"

"No, but I'm doing it anyways," Hoshi drawled, holding her mask in one hand.

Corazon chuckled, then noticed something. "Your splint?"

"Don't need it, so long as people don't go trying to break my arm again tonight." she replied, glaring at him pointedly. "It was only cracked, and I can live without the cast for a few hours."

He nodded regally. "Well said," he told her. "Now, your instructions. The performance shall begin to open the dancing, but you yourself will not perform until the end. You will be the grand finale. You may do anything that pleases you until then, so long as you say in the great hall. Understood? My guards know who you are, so there is no trying to escape. I tell this to every one of my singers: 'If you try to escape, everyone in the hall will be killed.' Do you understand my meaning?"

Hoshi raged inwardly, but kept a calm face as she said, "I understand."

"Good." He led her to the doors that led to the great hall, and Hoshi was temporarily blinded as the doors opened. "Let us begin the celebration!" he boomed out over the waiting crowd.


	6. A Dance to Remember

**Author's Note: GAH! I'm sorry of Zoro's a little out of character in this chapter, but hey, how does Zoro act at formal events? I did the best I could! I'm sorry!!**

**Hoshi's song is Tsuki to Taiyou by Shela.**

**Disclaimer:**

Chapter Six: A Dance to Remember

Zoro stood among the guests with Nami and Robin as the great pair of double doors at the top of the stairs opened. A hunter with a lady in a blue dress descended the staircase to some cheering. He turned his gaze as a small ensemble of instruments began to play to the first singer's song. As soon as he heard her voice, he lost interest. This person wasn't Hoshi.

As soon as the song was over, he made for the edge of the crowd and scanned the sea of masks, trying to guess which one was Hoshi.

The refreshments table was opened, and the dancing began. He watched with no particular interest as Nami and Robin were both asked to dance, and he continued to scan people, trying to see faces behind the masks. Several waltzes and a gavotte later, Zoro was sure he had found which lady was Hoshi. He started making his way to a lady with a sky-blue dress and a spherical crystal hanging at her throat who was standing by the refreshments table.

* * *

Hoshi was uncomfortable. Stiff and formal things like this just weren't for her. When the refreshments table was opened, she cast an eye on all the pastries and decided that her appetite wasn't quite up for it yet. She took a place beside a potted plant, trying to be invisible, but she wasn't succeeding. Several people had asked her to dance, and not knowing how to refuse, she had danced with them all, feeling awkward and clumsy as her feat traced unknown patterns on the dance floor. The waltzes were especially uncomfortable, as it normally involved people putting their arms around her. 

She had escaped and stood by the refreshments, trying to look like she was absorbed in choosing which one to try first. However, giving up on the food, she turned to find a better hiding spot when she almost bumped into yet another masked gentleman. She stifled a groan. "Excuse me," she said politely. "I didn't know you were there."

Hoshi started to walk away when the man called, "Wait."

She stifled another groan. Was this man going to ask her to dance as well? She'd have to think of some polite way of refusing… "Yes? What is it?"

The man was silent for a moment, then asked, "Would you like to dance?"

For the third time in as many moments, Hoshi stifled a groan. "No! I hate dancing, and I'm sick and tired of doing it!!" her selfish side screamed. The part of her that cared about a whole town getting killed replied, "Very well."

A slow waltz came on as she followed the man onto the dance floor. He took one of her hands and placed his other arm around her waist. Hoshi placed her hand on his waist, and they danced, stepping slowly to the music. She waited to feel hot and uncomfortable, as her previous dances had been… but the feeling didn't come. She was surprised to feel at for some reason, she actually felt at peace in this man's arms.

After a couple minutes, Hoshi began to feel a little uncomfortable. The man's eyes, though she couldn't see them, were boring holes into her face. He hadn't said a single word since he had asked her to dance.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Hoshi," she replied, if a little coldly. She was becoming utterly confused. Who was this man, and why was her heart pounding like this? It was as if her body knew something that her mind just wasn't picking up on.

The danced in silence for another minute or so.

"How did you get that cut on your neck?" he asked unexpectedly.

Hoshi jumped. "Why do you need to know?" she shot back automatically, then gasped. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."

After a pause, the man replied, "I see."

Hoshi remained stonily silent. She refused to say anything more, but there was something about this man that made her uneasy… It was like she had met him before.

"Are you going to perform later?" he asked.

"Yes."

The dance ended. Hoshi pulled away quickly and bowed her head. "Thank you for the dance," she said dully, before turning her back. She felt the man's eyes boring more holes into her back as she walked away. A strange feeling of loss came over her, before she shook it off and asked one of the guards the way to the bathroom. She absolutely HAD to get out of these ridiculous shoes for a moment.

* * *

"Zoro, you're such an idiot!" Nami hissed as the trio regrouped by a potted plant near one of the windows. "Why didn't you tell her it was you?!" 

"There wasn't any reason to," he said, looking at a leaf that was suddenly very interesting.

"You should go ask for another dance, and tell her it's you this time!" Nami fiercely whispered.

"Why? We did what we came here. Hoshi's alive, and she's okay."

Nami got a stress mark on her head. "You are really an IDIOT!" she raged. "Just get over there and tell her it's you! Why the hell did you dance with her in the first place?!"

The part of Zoro's face that was visible turned a faint shade of red as he continued to stare at the leaf. "That… was a mistake," he mumbled. "I didn't mean to say it."

"Why, oh WHY do you have to be suck a blockhead?!" Nami raged. "If you don't go I'm going to d-"

"Kokaishi-san," Robin interrupted with a smile. "I think that Kenbou-san would prefer to make his own decisions."

Zoro looked at Robin with a little surprise, then he stalked off. "I'm going to go get something to drink," he muttered.

* * *

By the end of everything, Hoshi was in an exceptionally bad mood and in no shape for singing… but she had to sing. _It wasn't like this before, not on the ship_, she thought bitterly. _I have to get out of here… back to the place where I only have to sing if I want too._

Stepping onto the stage, she took a deep breath. _Well, I have to do this._ Telling her selfish side that YES, the lives of a town were more important than her discomfort, she took a deep breath to calm herself. She closed her eyes underneath her mask, and projected her voice, making it fill every corner of the hall.

_yume wo mite tabibito-tachi yo  
tada hikari ni michibiku mama ni..._

Looking out over the sea of masks, Hoshi recognized the man who had asked her to dance earlier, the one with the colors split right down the middle. As she continued to sing, she moved her head back and forth as if she was looking at everyone, but her eyes remained on him. Who was he? The question was bothering her so badly, buzzing around in her head like a bee.

_samishii _ _nara__ koe wo kikasete  
todokanai _ _nara__ uta wo kikasete  
tomadoinagara hane wo tojite  
samayoinagara sora o mitsumeteru_

tsuki no you ni matataku koto mo wasure  
shizuka ni kie fukaku utsurikomi kaketeku  
kono mama kawarazu sono kotoba ni nosete 

Zoro watched Hoshi singing from the back of the crowd, next to Nami and Robin. The song was beautiful, and so was her voice… but there was something missing he thought. Something was making her voice different than it usually was… more 'flat', was the best word he could come up with. He furrowed his brow, wondering what could have caused the change, but somehow, he just couldn't stay in that worried mindset while listening to Hoshi. He closed his eyes and let her voice wash over him.

_yume wo mite ikusen no yoru ni  
tada nagareru tabibito-tachi yo  
tatoe modorenaku... soredemo mata ayumu deshou_

Nami glanced at Zoro, and mentally patted herself on the back for making him come. Sanji had wanted to come, and so had Luffy, but she had made them stay on the ship, knowing if either of them had come, they would have drawn unwanted attention to the fact that the Straw Hats were there. Chopper and Usopp hadn't shown any real interest in coming.

_kanashii kara hoho wo nurashite  
tsutaetai kara koe wo karashite  
utsumukinagara kage wo sagashite  
tsumazukinagara sora o miageteru_

Hoshi's voice almost cracked. Something had clicked in her mind when she noticed the white-sheathed sword at the man's side. _Zoro! He came!!_ She felt her heart lift, and she scanned the hall again. This time she also identified Nami and Robin, though if any of the others had come, she couldn't see them. They had come to make sure she was okay! She felt tears hovering behind her eyes… she was that glad to see them again… but she held them back. Determination rooted itself into her soul.

_atemonaku na no aru moto e to  
tada hikari ni michibiku mama ni...  
itsuka nokoshitakute kore kara mata ayumu deshou _

Zoro lifted an eyebrow under his mask when whatever was missing from Hoshi's voice suddenly was put back into place. Her voice became more… full, was the word he came up with. He grinned. _This_ sounded more like the Hoshi he remembered.

_hitori... tadazumu... kagayaki sae nakushita to shitemo..._

_itsu no hi ka tabibito-tachi yo ima hikari ni tsutsumarete  
koko ni nokoshitakute soredemo tsunaideku imi wo  
yume wo mite ikusen no yoru ni... kizutsuita hane hirogete  
tatoe modorenakute... shuukyoku e to ayumu koto deshou _

As Hoshi bowed to thunderous applause, she realized something. If Zoro was the man in the navy and white mask… he was the one she had danced with earlier! She and Zoro had danced together, and she had felt completely comfortable with him, even though she hadn't known who he was then … which meant what?

Badly confused, Hoshi stepped off the stage as the guests started to mill around again, looking for their companions. She pushed her way through the crowds, trying to see over heads to get a word in with Nami, Robin, and Zoro before they were lost in the crowd clearing the dance floor. There was going to be one more dance, the final dance of the night, then everyone was going to go back to town. It was to be a slow dance, and the lights were dimmed for effect.

Zoro had gotten 'separated' from Nami and Robin, and he was trying to find them when a hand pulled on his sleeve. Turning, he came face to face with… Hoshi.

"Zoro?" she whispered. "It's you, isn't it?"

He wasn't sure how to answer as the music for the last dance started. He shrugged and said the first thing that came to his mind… "Would you like to dance?"

Zoro couldn't tell what was going on behind Hoshi's mask, but the smile that lit up the bottom half of her face seemed to be a good sign. "Okay."

Watching from a fair distance away, Nami clapped her hands in glee. "Yes, success!"

Robin smiled.

Zoro offered Hoshi his arm, which she took, and they walked onto the dance floor. This was completely different from the earlier dance. Hoshi was relaxed and happy this time. He twirled her around gently before pulling her close again.

Hoshi blushed a bit, but she leaned her head against his shoulder. She whispered, "I'm looking for a way out, but my room doesn't have any windows, and from what I can tell, it's underground. It's going to take me a while, but by this time tomorrow night, I'll be back on the ship."

"That's good," Zoro murmured. "If you're not…?"

"There's no 'if'."

"If you're not there, you know what we're going to do?"

"Yes."

"Don't get yourself hurt. Your arm was broken a couple days ago, so don't overdo it."

"Worried about me?" Hoshi teased gently. She was rewarded when the bottom half of Zoro's face turned red. More seriously, she answered, "I'll be okay. It's basically healed now."

Zoro couldn't help but feel worried. Hoshi chuckled. "Even so… I'm glad you came," she whispered, feeling his heart beat against hers. Her nightmare came back to her, and she shivered as Zoro's yell of pain rang in her mind.

Zoro's arm tightened around her. "What's wrong?" he asked, concerned. "Are you catching a cold?"

Hoshi shook her head. "It's nothing," she said.

They danced in silence for a few moments. Hoshi kept her head against his muscular shoulder, so relieved to see him again she almost felt like crying.

Feeling Hoshi's warmth mingle with his own, Zoro felt a surge of protectiveness. He looked down at her shining black hair and murmured her name. Something in his voice made her pull away and look up questioningly.

He brought his face down and pressed his lips to hers. He surprised himself... probably more than he had surprised her.

Zoro pulled back, when she didn't do anything, his face undeniably red now. "Um…" He had no idea what had made him do that, but now he felt _really _embarrassed. He looked away.

Hoshi wasn't sure what to do. The dance had suddenly turned awkward. Zoro had loosened his grip on her, and she felt oddly detached. They said nothing. The dance ended, and the crowds started to break up, heading back for town.

Zoro pulled away and cleared his throat awkwardly. "I… I'll be waiting for you," he muttered, before walking away, leaving Hoshi standing there, astonished.

Hoshi watched Zoro disappear in the crowd. She wanted so badly to call him back… but for what? She put two fingers on her throbbing lips and mentally told them to stop that. _Zoro…_

"Ah! Those two IDIOTS!!" Nami raged, watching as Zoro turned away and started heading for the door without looking back. Robin chuckled.

* * *

"GAH!! YOU IDIOT!!" Nami roared at Zoro once they were safely back on the Going Merry. 

"OW THAT HURTS!" Zoro yelled as Nami hit him over the head over and over again.

"YOU… ARE… A… FREAKING… IDIOT!!" Nami roared, hitting him with each word. The last one sent Zoro flying over the side of the ship and into the ocean. He yelled as he crashed into the ocean.

"What happened?" Luffy whispered to Robin. "Why's Nami so mad?"

Robin smiled. "A few things didn't work out the way Kokaishi-san had planned."

Chopper hid on the wrong side of a barrel. "S-scary..."

Usopp clambered up the rigging in record time and took refuge in the crow's nest.

"Nami-san's so cute when she's mad," Sanji swooned.

"YOU SHUT UP!!" Nami roared, punching Sanji into the mast.

* * *

Hoshi was escorted back into her room. The butler bowed and closed the door. "Good evening, madam." 

"I keep telling you, I'm not a damn 'madam', you moron," Hoshi said absently. Her mind was preoccupied with the events of the night.

The butler bowed. "Yes, madam."

Hoshi stepped into the bathroom and took a long shower before dressing in the provided pajamas and collapsing into the bed.

She gave every sign of falling straight to sleep, but she didn't. Her mind refused to quiet down, and she kept feeling Zoro's lips against hers. She tried to shake it off, but it didn't work. Zoro was her nakama, not really anything more… was he?

This internal battle had been continuing for quite some time when the butler opened the door again. "Madam?"

Hoshi immediately pretended to be asleep and didn't answer right away.

"Madam?"

Faking a huge yawn, Hoshi sat up, blearily rubbing one eye. "What is it now?" she demanded.

"Master Corazon is calling for you, madam."

"The hell… the bastard's got some guts, calling a girl out like this in the middle of the night. Does he have any idea what time it is?!"

"It is three 'o clock in the morning, madam."

"And what do I keep telling you about that 'madam' thing?! It's 'HOSHI', got that?"

"Yes, madam."

Hoshi sighed. "You're hopeless," she informed the butler as she followed him to Corazon's rooms. "I'm going to hit you one day if you don't cut it out."

"Here we are, madam," the butler said, opening a door. "Master Corazon will see you now."

Hoshi stepped into the room and the butler shut the door behind her. Glancing around, she saw that there were no windows in this room, but Corazon was sitting in a cushiony chair sipping champagne. She put her hands on her hips and waited for him to speak… but he remained silent.

"Geez, you've got some nerve, calling me up like this in the middle of the night," she finally burst out. "You drunk or something?"

Corazon laughed. "No, I'm not drunk at all. I hardly drank anything tonight my dear."

Hoshi scowled. "I'm not 'your dear'."

"I was watching you carefully tonight. You seemed to enjoy yourself."

"You must not have been watching as carefully as you thought."

Corazon chuckled. "You have spunk, not like those other timid girls. I like that."

Hoshi's scowl deepened. "What'd you call me here for?" she demanded, irritated.

"I suppose I did call you here for something," Corazon murmured, staring into his champagne as if it held the answers to the world. Hoshi waited, crossing her arms across her chest.

He stood and walked over to her. Hoshi didn't break her cold gaze until he grabbed her chin and kissed her deeply.

"Do you understand now, my dear?" he asked, an insane gleam coming into his eyes.


	7. Storming the Keep

**Author's Note: YAY! This is so much fun for me to write!!**

**Disclaimer: don't own it, don't sue me**

Chapter Seven: Storming the Keep

Hoshi gasped in horror and slapped Corazon across the face. Her eyes blazed with fury as he stood back up and gingerly rubbed his cheek. She had been having bad luck with perverts lately. "What the hell are you trying to pull?!" she demanded.

"Isn't it obvious?" Corazon asked. "I'm trying to seduce you," he growled, pinning her against the wall for another kiss. He ran his hands up and down her sides, almost purring in pleasure as he barged his tongue into her mouth. Hoshi struggled, but he stopped and held her firm. "Just give up already," he whispered, before nipping her earlobe delicately and starting a series of kisses down her jawbone.

"Pervert!" Hoshi screamed, pushing him away roughly. "How DARE you…"

Corazon laughed. "Tough one, huh? Don't worry, we'll take this nice and slow…" he purred, approaching her again. "It's been a while since I've had a challenge like you."

Hoshi had reached her breaking point. As he reached for her again, she dealt him a roundhouse kick to the face. He crashed into the chair he had been sitting in earlier. Hoshi growled. This man was going to be VERY sorry if he tried anything else with her.

"Touch me again and you DIE," she hissed.

He stood, still amused. "I suppose you prefer that other man who kissed you tonight?"

Hoshi was stunned for a second, but quickly recovered. Without answering, she started a series of punches to his gut. He put up with about five of them before grabbing her arm. "That's quite enough," he said after getting his wind back. His eyes had a dangerous spark in them.

She dug her nail into the base of his thumbnail, a very painful experience. He yelled with pain and let go. "Guards!" he roared, clutching his hand.

Three guards ran into the room and dogpiled Hoshi. She cried out as a couple somethings in her chest cracked, and breathing became acutely more painful.

"Bitch!" Corazon yelled. He punched her several times as one of the guards held her arms behind her back.

"But still," he murmured, looking her over as she glared at him. "You still manage to be beautiful with bruises on your face." He grabbed her face in both hands and kissed her long and hard. Hoshi waited for the right moment, then she chomped down on his intruding tongue. A hard metallic taste filled her mouth before Corazon leaped back with a yell, his tongue bleeding slightly.

"Take her to the dungeon," Corazon spat. "Lock her up in the lowest dungeon and melt down the key!!"

Hoshi stared coldly at him as she was dragged out the door. Two minutes later, she was thrown into a cold jail cell, chains wrapped around her wrists behind her back. Using her legs, she rampaged around a little, but without her arms for proper balance, she could do little to the steel bars… not that she could have done more than dent them to begin with. She tried to break the stone surrounding her, but that didn't do anything except bruise her heels. Sitting cross-legged on the cold floor, she sat and shivered, finally letting the fear she had been fighting off overtake her. She was in a cage again… the last place she wanted to be.

* * *

Zoro woke up. A cold, sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach told him something was wrong… really wrong. He jumped out of his hammock and walked onto the deck, hoping the early morning air would settle his nerves. It didn't, but it cleared his head. He scanned the area around the ship. It was completely quiet and devoid of life, the inhabitants of the town catching some sleep after the masquerade.

Hoshi… for some reason, he couldn't stop thinking about her. It was connected to the sinking feeling that had woken him up, of that he was sure now, but why? Hoshi was probably sleeping now, getting her energy up to escape later.

"You're up early," a voice called down from the crow's nest. Zoro looked up to see Sanji on watch. "It's not even five yet."

"Whatever, just felt like taking an early morning walk. Got a problem with that?" Zoro called back, vaulting over the side of the ship and landing on the dock. He started walking off, yelling, "I'll be back later."

"The hell…?" Sanji muttered, watching Zoro turn a corner and disappear. "Since when does Zoro take early morning walks?"

It was about half an hour later when Zoro heard a message runner coming from the castle. "Announcement!" the boy was yelling. "Announcement! Everyone gather in the main square!!" People started stumbling out their doors and groaning, they headed in a general direction. Zoro hesitated before following.

The boy stood on top of a barrel. "Everyone, listen up! Corazon's just imprisoned his newest singer in his dungeons!!"

Zoro froze.

Everyone groaned. "That's the third one this month!" one yelled.

"No, it's his second," another corrected.

"Does that mean he's going to be coming back down looking for another one?"

The crowd dispersed, muttering about one thing or another, until Zoro was the only one left standing in the square. He stood there like that, digesting this information, before he turned on his heel and started running back towards the harbor. The others had to know.

* * *

_**"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?"**_

Zoro rubbed his ears. He had gotten lost on the way back, and he had resorted to climbing a building via a loaded laundry line to get a better view of where he was. He had been lucky, and was able to spot the skull and crossbones wearing the straw hat in the distance… he had been walking the wrong direction. After he had explained what he had heard, his reward was to get his ears blown out by the rest of the crew.

"You're joking," Luffy and Nami said simultaneously, Luffy around a mouthful of breakfast. (You had to hand it to the captain… he never neglected his food.)

"Why the hell would I joke about something like this?" Zoro demanded.

Chopper was running around, screaming. "AHH!! HOSHI'S IN A DUNGEON!!!"

Sanji waving around a fry pan. "That Corazon bastard, putting Hoshi-chan into a cage!" He ran to the banister and waved it furiously between the two horn-like mountains. "HOSHI-CHAN, WAIT FOR ME!!!!"

Robin sipped her coffee.

"Why was she put into the dungeon?" Usopp asked. "Did the guy say?"

Zoro scowled. "No. He didn't."

"The best course of action right now would be to wait until nightfall to try and get Hoshi back," Robin commented. "At night, we would have a bet-"

"YOSH! I've decided!" Luffy said, swallowing and standing up. He stomped one foot onto the table. "We're going to go get Hoshi back, RIGHT NOW!! There's no point to sitting around doing nothing! Everyone! Prepare for attack!!"

"AYE!" his crew responded eagerly.

Two minutes later, everyone was running down the streets of the town, led by Nami and Robin, Zoro and Luffy following on their heels, and everyone else bringing up the rear. They made quite a fuss as they ran down this street and that, attracting a lot of attention. Luffy made a spectacular spectacle by running headlong into a fruit stand. Zoro had swiped a couple apples and started eating them as they ran through the flying fruit without stopping. It wasn't going to be good if he ran out of energy at such a crucial moment.

"By the way," Nami said as they ran. "Zoro, what were you doing out so early? It's not like you to just decide to take an early morning walk around town, especially with directional senses like yours."

"Shut up!" Zoro shot back, munching the apple. "I found my way back to the ship alright."

"Right. I could hear the lady screaming at you for messing up her laundry from the ship."

A stress mark appeared. "That doesn't matter now!"

Luffy laughed. "Oi, Zoro, did you really have to mess up an obassan's laundry to find your way back to the ship?"

"Shut up!"

* * *

"Master Corazon, we have received a report. The Straw Hats are on the move, on their way to this castle."

"Very good. I was looking forward to this…"

"Master?"

"Ah, yes. Set out our forces as you see fit, I trust you."

"Very good, Master Corazon."

Corazon watched the captain of the guard bowed and left the room. He stood up out of his chair and slid back a painting, revealing a secret passageway. An insane smile on his face, he started to descend the stairs that led to the dungeon.

Hoshi was still sitting, cross legged in her cell. Her joints were stiff, and she moved them a little. She had retreated deep inside herself, the only place left to retreat to. By doing this, she was able to ward off the panic and keep her sanity.

She peeked outwardly a little when the sound of pounding feet filled the hall. "Hurry!" someone shouted. "They want all forces in our division to cover the West Gate! Move, move, move!"

A flare of hope rose inside her soul, warming her entire being. She stood up, and started walking around the cell to keep her legs from seizing up too much. She had a feeling she would need them later.

"There it is!" Nami pointed. "Corazon's castle!"

"WHOA! IT'S BIG!!" Chopper, Usopp, and Luffy all yelled, eyes popping out.

"How are we going to attack?" Robin asked. "Do we have a strategy?"

"Yes!" Luffy answered. "Everyone, listen up! We're going to go in straight through the front, get rid of everyone who gets in our way, and free Hoshi!!"

Nami sweatdropped. "Some plan…"

"Got any better ideas?" Usopp asked.

"Actually, that may be a good idea," Robin commented.

"HAVE YOU GONE INSANE?!" was the general response.

"If you think about it," Robin explained, "They should already know we're coming, and are preparing for us. We made quite a fuss as we came through town, so it's hardly surprising. They'll probably expect us to split up and attack all the castle's different entrances. But if all of us focus on only one entrance, they'll be surprised, and there will be less soldiers to contend with in our initial attack. That way, we can find Hoshi faster."

"Ah! She's right," Nami agreed.

"Anyone besides me doubt that Luffy actually thought this out though?" Sanji asked.

Everyone sweatdropped. "You're right about that…"

"So which entrance are we going through?" Chopper asked.

"The front!" Luffy answered.

"Carefree as always…" Usopp sweatdropped.

"The front it is then," Nami nodded. Everyone put on a burst of speed.

"LET'S GO!!" Luffy yelled, taking the lead.

"AYE!!"

* * *

"It seems as though your friends came to save you," Corazon laughed, leaning on the bars that were imprisoning Hoshi.

She grinned evilly at him. "They're coming to get me."

Corazon laughed again. "They're not going to reach you, you know."

Hoshi's grin widened even more, unsettling Corazon. "Wanna bet?"

He shrugged, regaining his confidence. "Well, it doesn't really matter to me either way if they make it down here. By then, I'll probably have gotten what I want from you."

Remembering the incident earlier that morning, Hoshi's grin was replaced in an instant by a feral snarl. "Like hell!" she spat.

"I'm afraid you have no choice, my dear" Corazon purred, unlocking the cell and walking in. Hoshi tried to bowel him over, but he caught her by the shoulders and laughed. "Naughty, naughty, trying to run away now, are we?"

"Bastard…" Hoshi growled. _Shit, If only my arms were free…!_

He turned and locked the door through the bars. "Now you can't get out," he grinned nastily. Tucking the key into his waistband, the insane glint lit his eyes again. "Let's see how long you can stay away."

* * *

The Straw Hats entered the castle by the front gate. There was absolutely no one there… sort of strange. They slowed their pace and cautiously walked into the grand hall. There was no one there either.

"What's going on?" Nami asked, her Clima Tact out. "Where are the guards?"

No one really wanted to answer that question.

"We need to get to Hoshi as soon as possible," Zoro growled. "Which way would the dungeons be?"

Robin answered, "I think they would be in th-"

"THAT'S FAR ENOUGH!!" a voice boomed. Suddenly, a huge number of guards stepped out of their hiding places.

"Does that answer your question, Nami?" Zoro asked sarcastically, drawing all of his swords instantly.

There was a flurry of movement.

"Gomu Gomu no Gatteling Gun!!"

"Thunderbolt Tempo!"

"Santoryuu… Tatsumaki!"

"Heavy Point… Jurryou Kyouka!"

"Party Table!"

"Cien Fluers… Clutch!"

"Usopp NOISE!!!"

In a matter of seconds, all the soldiers were either unconscious or pretending to be. "Now what?" Usopp asked. "We still don't know which way to go."

"Don't think you can take one step further into the castle, lousy pirates!" the one in charge boomed. He was one of the men who had been with Corazon when he had taken Hoshi away in the bar… the man, in fact, who had swung Luffy into the wall. "I, Genzo of the Devil's Hearts, will not allow you to pass!!"

"Shut up!" Luffy yelled, throwing a punch. "You're in the way!"

"Do you know how to get to the dungeons?" Chopper asked.

"Yes I do! It's that door to the left, then you go four floors straight down!"

No one moved for a second. "Is… is this guy an idiot?" Usopp asked.

The man suddenly clapped a hand over his mouth. "Oh shit! I just told you how to get to the dungeons!"

"Okay, thanks," Zoro muttered, running towards the door. The others followed, but the man yelled, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!"

He jumped into the air and jumped in front of them… only to have Luffy's fist smash him back into the air.

"All of you, go, quick!" Luffy ordered. "This guy… he's mine!"

"Are you sure?" Chopper yelled.

Luffy nodded and grinned. "I'll catch up really soon!"

"Alright then," Zoro said. "We're going now, Luffy," he called, leading everyone down to the lower floors.

_Hoshi, hang in there. We're on our way!_


	8. Getting the Idea

**Author's Note: THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS! Enjoy the chapt! **

**Disclaimer: Because I don't own it, you can't sue me**

Chapter Eight: Getting the Idea

"PERVERT!" Hoshi screamed. "Stay the hell AWAY from me!" she yelled, stumbling away from his groping hands, desperately yanking on the chains that bound her hands behind her back.

Corazon gave her an understanding smile. "I know, you want to resist, but give in and everything will be so much easi-"

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, YOU BASTARD?!?!" Hoshi yelled, kicking his belly. She winced as her hands scraped the wall, and she was pretty sure from the wet sensation trickling between her fingers that she had cut herself somewhere, and her ribs were protesting loudly to the sudden movement.

Corazon hit the wall with a grunt. He growled and lunged for her. Hoshi frantically dodged as he laughed. "You can't dance forever, my dear!"

"No I can't," Hoshi agreed. "But I can try to beat the crap out of you first," she said, thrusting her shoulder into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. He gasped and fell to the floor, when Hoshi jumped and landed as hard as she could on his stomach. She heard something crack with a grim satisfaction, but a sudden jolt of pain from her ribs made her stumble and fall backwards.

* * *

Luffy and Genzo were locked in a furious sparring match, and anyone watching would have agreed that the great hall was getting pretty trashed. 

"Gomu Gomu no… Bazooka!" Luffy yelled, aiming the bases of his palms towards Genzo's head. He jumped against the wall and dodged just in time.

"A power of the Devil's Fruit, huh?" Genzo grinned. "Too bad for you, I have one too! Watch, the fearsome power of the Furatu Furatu no Mi!"(Flat Flat Fruit)

Genzo suddenly flattened like an accordion onto the floor, becoming so flat that Luffy couldn't see him from his point of view anymore.

"Ah, where'd he go?!" Luffy growled. He ran over to the place where Genzo had shrunk and scanned the floor. "Damn, he disappeare-"

"FUKURAMASU! (Inflate!)" Genzo yelled, growing suddenly in size and punching Luffy into the air. Luffy grunted as he went flying. "And I'm not close to done yet!" Genzo roared. He ran under Luffy and flattened, folding himself into a paper airplane, gliding underneath the rubberman.

Genzo calculated where Luffy was going to collide with the wall and quickly hurried himself over there before Luffy landed. In that instant, he changed his shape to a slim cone… let alone a lethally sharp cone. Luffy yelled as the cone impaled his arm.

"Rubber can stretch, but it can't stand up to sharp objects, am I not right, Straw Hat Luffy?!" Genzo yelled triumphantly, pulling himself out of Luffy's shoulder and resuming his original shape. Luffy clutched his shoulder and glared at Genzo.

"Yeah, you're right about that," Luffy agreed cheerfully. "But I'm still going to defeat you!" He stretched his arms back. "Gomu Gomu no… Gatteling Gun!!"

Genzo laughed as he flattened. Luffy's eyes widened in astonishment as the Genzo-paper suffered no harm from his attack. "You see? Your attacks might hurt anything that gives resistance, like rock or stone, but paper is flexible and goes with the flow."

"Damn," Luffy muttered, pulling his fist back. "I need to think of some way to beat this guy."

* * *

"Hurry!" Zoro yelled as he led everyone as they ran down the stairs. 

"Hoshi's probably on the bottom floor," Robin called as she brought up the rear. "We're going to have to go down to the fourth level."

"But look!" Usopp yelled. "The end of the stairs is right there!"

"WHAT?!" It was true… the stairs ended in a dead end. There was a large wooden door on one side, but that was it. Otherwise, there was nothing else.

"Dammit, what do we do?" Zoro punched the offending wall in frustration. "We're stuck here!"

"WE ARE!?!" Chopper yelled.

"No…" Nami noticed, peeking through the door. "We have to go through this room." She pointed. "See? The stair starts up again over there."

"Good!" Chopper said, relieved. "We can still go down further."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Zoro muttered. "Let's go."

"Morons…" Nami muttered. She opened the door further and they streamed into the room. The walls were made of plain, grey stone, but it was a fairly long room, with a good ten yards to the other end.

"Welcome," a female voice demurred. Everyone turned, and their jaws basically fell to the floor.

"Hoshi?!"

* * *

Hoshi scrambled along the floor, trying to reach a wall to brace herself against so she could get back to her feet before he did. Unfortunately, she wasn't successful. 

"I've got you now, my dear," Corazon growled, lurching back to his feet and grabbing her shoulders. He pinned her against the wall and slammed his mouth against hers. Hoshi tried biting his tongue again, but she couldn't breathe and her body was rapidly weakening. Corazon was squishing her already-cracked ribs against her lungs, and her vision was going hazy from the pain. Her jaw, not to mention every other muscle in her body, was oxygen-deprived and weak.

In helpless fury, Hoshi was forced to let Corazon's tongue explore her mouth with complete freedom. Finally… _finally_, he pulled back to get air. Hoshi gasped, trying to gulp air and not breathe too much at the same time as her ribs sang with pain. She was well aware that the only thing keeping her upright now was Corazon pinning her shoulders against the wall.

If she pulled out her wings here, there was no way she would be able to move properly. Her wingspan was a good sixteen feet, which was probably twice the size of the cell. They would do nothing more than get in the way and hinder her movement. Also, they would probably get broken getting mashed against the walls and ceiling.

Corazon licked his lips with anticipation, seeming to savor her taste. "You're a sweet one," he crooned, stroking her jawbone tenderly. Hoshi shuddered with disgust.

* * *

"Gomu Gomu no… Muchi!" 

"Useless!" Genzo roared. He flattened himself into a paper again, fluttering in the wind caused by Luffy's attack.

"Damn," Luffy muttered, pulling his leg back. "Gomu Gomu no… Pistol!!" he yelled, punching the piece of paper into the floor. An enormous crater appeared in the middle of the great hall with a loud crash. Underneath Luffy's fist, the paper was, amazingly, unharmed, save a couple wrinkles in the center. Luffy pulled his fist back and waited.

Genzo didn't do anything for a few seconds. "Did that finish him off?" Luffy wondered aloud, peering curiously into the hole. There was absolutely no movement. "Ah, guess it did," he commented, and, finding his hat in a corner of the room, he put it back onto his head and started heading for the stairs.

"LIKE HELL IT DID!!!" Genzo roared, inflating.

Luffy spun around. "Damn, you're a tough one, aren't you?" he asked good-naturedly.

Genzo rubbed his cheek. "That last attack only bruised me," he informed Luffy, grinning nastily. "Maybe you'd like time to think of a different idea of attack… but now, it's my turn!"

"Furatu Furatu Yatai (float)!" Genzo muttered as he flattened. He folded himself into a paper airplane again and flew with amazing speed towards Luffy.

Luffy was confused for a moment, but suddenly Genzo changed shape. "Furatu Furatu Hensen: Kyoten (change: point)!! Furthermore, the paper squeezes my body mass into a much higher density, meaning blows like this have the force of an elephant behind them at this speed!!" he roared. He rolled himself really tightly into a thin dart. Luffy didn't have time to dodge as it flew straight towards him, impaling his shoulder.

Luffy gasped, then growled ferociously. "Get the hell out of my shoulder, you damn bastard!" he yelled, grabbing the human needle out of his shoulder. His eyes widened when he felt its weight. When Genzo forced himself out of Luffy's hand and inflated again, Luffy's eyes lit up as he got an idea. "Heh, I think I just thought of a way to beat you!"

Genzo roared with laughter. "HA!! A way to beat me?!" He flattened again. "You don't stand a chance against this next attack," he yelled, flying up to the top of the hall. "I'll finish you off with this! FURATU FURATU KYUUKYOKU DAGEKI!! (final blow)"

* * *

"Hoshi! You're alright!" Chopper yelled, running over to her. He jumped into her arms and sobbed like the little kid he really was at heart. 

"HOSHI-CHAN, YOU'RE SAFE!!" Sanji gushed, a heart in his eye.

"Thanks for coming to save me!" Hoshi smiled, hugging Chopper before placing him onto the floor.

"Don't make us worry like that!" Nami said, poking Hoshi's forehead.

Hoshi smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

Zoro was relieved. Hoshi didn't seem to be injured, and she seemed happy that they had all come for her again… but something was bothering him. He frowned, trying to pinpoint it.

Robin's face was blank.

"Neh, Hoshi, what are you doing? I thought you'd been put into a dungeon or something!"

Hoshi looked surprised. "Were people saying that?"

Usopp's nose bobbed up and down furiously. "Yeah, that's why we came!"

"You didn't need to do that," Hoshi said, fluttering her hand at them. "I like it here, and I don't really feel like going back to that ship of yours."

"Sure, sure," Nami sighed. "But for now, let's get you out o- wait, what did you say?!"

Hoshi smiled. "I like it here! I can sing all I want for other people, and they give me good food and clothes. I even get a fancy room all to myself!"

Everyone stared in shock as Hoshi laughed. "I like it here!" she repeated.

* * *

Luffy jumped to one side as the human needle flew down again. It crashed into the floor, making another gigantic crater. Peeking into it, he noted the small black hole in the center, right where he had been standing half a second before. "Ah, that was too close," he grumbled. 

"Hmph," Genzo muttered, coming out of the hole. "That was a lucky miss." He flew towards Luffy, needle form, on target. "I'm not going to miss this time!" he roared, aiming straight for Luffy's head.

Luffy stretched his neck to one side, just before Genzo hit it. The needle buried itself deeply into the wall. "Attacking me like that isn't going to work," Luffy informed the man good-naturedly. "Anyways, I've already thought of a way to defeat you." He said, grabbing the needle-Genzo just as he poked himself out of the wall.

"What are you doing?" Genzo yelled. He tried to inflate, but Luffy rolled him out into a flat piece of paper and crumpled him up. Genzo roared in pain as the pressure Luffy put on the paper made him fold and crack in odd places.

Luffy threw the paper ball over his shoulder. "See ya," he said.

Genzo couldn't inflate without spasms of pain wracking his body, so he contented himself with yelling curses at Luffy as the straw hat captain ran through the door and started running down the steps.

"EVERYONE! WAIT FOR ME!! I'M ON MY WAY!"

* * *

Hoshi slumped into a trembling ball as Corazon let go of her shoulders. He laughed, seeming to savor the sight of her defeated pose. "Took you long enough, didn't it?" he roared, roughly grabbing her arm, the one he had broken before, and heaved her roughly to her feet. 

A nasty crack split the air, and Hoshi bit her lip so hard, it bled, to keep from crying out. And the broken bone was getting pulled into a funny angle since her wrists were chained behind her back.

Corazon laughed. "Oh, sorry, sorry," he murmured into her ear. "You must be in such pain right now."

Pinning her against the wall, heedless of her pain, Corazon started a slow series of kisses down from the top of her forehead and moving down her hairline, taking a couple breaks to run his hands up and down her form.

Tears of helpless fury leaked out of her eyes and trailed down her cheeks. Corazon seemed oblivious to her pain and lapped them up eagerly, like a puppy, and murmured incoherent words of the sick pleasure he gained from destroying her like this. He didn't limit his hands to just her sides anymore. They were exploring every bit of her, eating her chest and her stomach and her thighs eagerly like a starved wolf. As he started alternately kissing and biting her neck, his hands slid inside her shirt and started wandering around, exploring the unknown terrain. Hoshi couldn't take it anymore. She screamed her pain to the high heavens, tears flowing freely down her cheeks now, her cries echoing off the walls and filling the empty dungeon rooms.

* * *

"W-what are you saying, Hoshi?" Usopp asked in disbelief. 

"It's just like I said," Hoshi said, starting to get a little irritated. "I… like… it… here. I have absolutely no intention of going back with you guys. It's not like I ever liked it on the ship to begin with."

Chopper, Usopp, and Nami were staring at Hoshi in utter horror. Sanji lit a cigarette, and Robin still kept her face carefully blank.

Zoro felt his mind closing down in a state of shock. It couldn't be true… Hoshi? She had seemed to love being on the ship so much, considering what her past circumstances had been before… He clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes. It wasn't true, he willed the circumstances not to be true with every fiber of his being. There was a cruel glint in Hoshi's eyes he had never seen before. Was this what Hoshi true personality?

_"Man, I sure picked one hell of a crew to be on!!" Hoshi laughed._

Hoshi's words floated back to him. He couldn't believe that she could just give them all up like that… or be able to lie to them all like that so easily. Everyone was staring at Hoshi with equal shock.

A faint scream suddenly caught everyone's attention. It floated through the door leading to the dungeons.

"What was that?" Usopp wondered. "It sounded like someone was really in pa- Zoro?!"

Zoro had drawn his Wadou and had placed it against Hoshi's neck. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded softly, his face murderous.

Hoshi chuckled. "Don't point such a dangerous thing at me," she chided him gently.

"I ASKED you who you were."

"Zoro, what are you doing?!" Nami cried.

"Couldn't you tell?!" Zoro snapped. "That scream… was HOSHI. This is a damn imposter!!"

'Hoshi' sighed. "Bad boy, you blew my cover," she chided as she began melting before their eyes. "The power of the Touji Touji no Mi (Clay Clay Fruit) does come in handy for impersonation, wouldn't you all agree?" she asked. She remodeled herself into the woman who had helped take Hoshi away. "It was amusing to see you all get so worked up over just a single nakama," she smiled.

"SEXY LADY!!" Sanji swooned.

Usopp pummeled the cook. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!?"

"So you're one of Corazon's cronies?" Robin asked pleasantly.

"Yes. I am Choukou." Her eyes flicked to the door leading to the dungeons. "If you all can get past me, I suggest you hurry if you want to save your friend. Master Corazon his probably having his way with her right now."

Zoro's eyes widened in anger. He pressed the blade into her neck. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

Choukou rolled her eyes. "Moron, why do you think he loves for his singers to be women?" She chuckled as Zoro's froze as something clicked in his mind. "Looks like you get my meaning," she commented as another scream floated through the door.


	9. Keep Running

**Author's Note: Yay! If you've read this far, I hope you're enjoying the story! Thanks to Rivermoore's Horse, Flarey Phoenix, and Lilygirl33 for reviewing!!**

**Disclaimer: Get the idea already…**

Chapter Nine: Keep Running

Zoro immediately withdrew his blade and started making for the door.

"Too slow!" Choukou told him. She disappeared to reappear in front of him. He barely dodged her punch, bending backwards sharply.

"Dammit, am I going to have to beat you up?" Zoro demanded. "Let me through!"

She chuckled. "Sorry, not too much chance of that. I'm not planning to let you through any time soon."

Zoro narrowed her eyes and drew his swords. "You want to die?"

A twisted smile suddenly lit up Choukou's face. "Ha! It's going to be you that's going to die! You and all your pitiful fr-"

"Seis Fleurs!"

"Wh-"

Five hands sprouted out of the door, seizing Choukou and pinning her to the door while a sixth swung it open.

"Go, Kenbou-san, Kukuu-san, Isha-san, Nagahana-kun!" Robin commanded. "Kokaishi-san and I should be able to take care of this one!"

"Will you two really be alright?" Chopper asked.

Nami twirled her Clima Tact and formed a cloud, an evil smile forming on her face. "I'll zap you guys out of here myself if you don't go… NOW!!" she yelled, throwing a lightening ball into the clouds. The guys gaped for a second, then ran and slammed the door behind them in record time, just as the lightening bolt struck the spot they had been standing only a second before.

* * *

"Oi, Zoro."

"What is it?" Zoro demanded irritably as they all kept running down the second flight of stairs.

Sanji grinned at him. "Just keep going straight down to where Hoshi is, don't stop."

"What?"

Sanji grinned even more widely. "Just do it! Leave everything else to us, you hear?"

"Why the hell should I do what you say, you demented eyebrow?!"

"WHAT WAS THAT, DAMN MARIMO HEAD?!"

Chopper and Usopp sweatdropped as the two continued yelling at each other. "I guess… that means Zoro's going to keep going ahead then…" Chopper said uncertainly.

Usopp nodded, then grinned. "It's what he wants to do anyways."

Chopper looked confused. "He does?"

The sharpshooter chuckled. "Believe me, he does."

* * *

Corazon silenced Hoshi with another kiss that smothered her screams. "Dear me, dear me," he whispered. "You're being rather noisy, aren't you?"

Hoshi gave him a death glare, but the effect was somewhat spoiled by the fact that her throat continued to give off involuntary whimpers of pain as her own bones speared her arm from the inside. Corazon laughed. "Don't worry, my dear," he crooned. "I'll be finished soon."

"I… I don't give… a DAMN… about you, shitty bastard," she snarled. Hard steel filled her aqua eyes. "If you think… this hurts me… you have absolutely NO IDEA… what I've been through…"

"Who was the one who was screaming to the high heavens?" Corazon asked nastily.

"That was instinctive," Hoshi spat. "Ever been… a test subject in a lab?"

"What the hell are you blabbing about now?" Corazon demanded.

"Ever had to live… through knowing… that everyone else thought you were inferior? A damn… animal with no… feelings or thoughts…"

"You're boring me now," Corazon droned. He threw her to the floor, and Hoshi screamed as the shock traveled to her broken arm. "But tell me, why do you continue to live if you have had such a cruel life?"

Hoshi grinned, and despite the circumstances, a sudden peace filled her soul. "Because… I found _them_."

**Flashback**

_Experiment 413 had been flying for almost eighteen hours straight, and there was no island in sight. She knew she couldn't keep up this pace for much longer, then suddenly, an overwhelming exhaustion overcame her. Why live? There was no one in the world who knew or cared if she existed and lived besides a bunch of insane World Scientists. _

_Every single place she had tried, the World Government came, not too far behind. Killing anyone who dared to stand in her defense, it always ended the same. Any people she had been stupid enough to get attached to were killed, and she always escaped by some random stroke of luck. But… Experiment 413 knew that she couldn't keep living like this. Her luck was bound to run out sometime, and when that happened… it would be right back to a lab for her._

I hate this, _she thought viciously. _I… HATE this life.

_There was nothing more she wanted than a safe place to sleep… just somewhere to lie down her head and sleep without worrying about any nighttime ambushes…_

I can't do this anymore…

_With almost a sight of relief, she let her wings relax and she plummeted towards the ocean. If the impact didn't kill her, she would drown, at least… either way, she'd be dead, which meant the end of everything._

_What she didn't expect was to land in the crow's nest of a certain ship named the Going Merry, with a certain crew onboard that would rescue her from everything…_

**End Flashback**

It was incredible for Hoshi to realize that she trusted these people so much. She trusted them enough to put her past behind and start a new life adventuring with them, underneath a new name that they had given her. She hauled herself to her feet with grunts of pain, and looked at Corazon right in the eye.

"They gave me _everything_. They gave me happiness and joy, they gave me my name… hell, they gave me my whole LIFE back," she told him, her legs trembling at the effort of standing. "I'd be a shame to their name if I weren't able to defend myself from a damn perv like you until they come."

* * *

Choukou wrenched herself free of the hands. "Damn, they got away," she muttered. "Ah well, I'll just take care of you two then."

Nami pointed her Clima Tact at the Clay woman. "Bring it on," she dared.

"You'll find that we won't go down so easily," Robin commented, placing one hand on her hip.

Choukou fluttered her hand at them. "Whatever, you're both going to die. You'll both fall against me, so why don't you just stand still and let me finish y-"

"Today's weather is clear and sunny," Nami called.

Choukou frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"But in the castle, there is an abnormal weather streak going on. Be careful, it may be a thunderstorm."

The woman looked up and she raised an eyebrow. "A cloud?"

"THUNDERBOLT TEMPO!!"

Choukou didn't even try to dodge the lightening. She just stood there as the lightening struck.

"Yes, success!" Nami cheered. Robin frowned. "Wait, Kokaishi-san…"

"Was that supposed to do anything?" Choukou asked. She remained where she had been standing, not even a scratch on her.

Nami's mouth dropped open. "You're kidding me… just what are you?!"

Choukou chuckled. "I told you already, I have a power of the Devil's Fruit. If you weren't listening earlier, it's your loss, lady."

"It was the Touji Touji no Mi, Kokaishi-san." Robin said.

"Clay?" Nami asked in surprise.

Robin nodded, then internally winced as Nami got an evil smile on her face. "That gives me an idea."

* * *

"Look! It's the next door!" Chopper yelled, pointing.

"Yosh, Zoro, remember!"

Zoro growled at the cook. "I got it already. 'Keep running.'"

"Glad that got through that thick skull of yours."

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"Oi, oi, this isn't really a time to be fighting," Usopp sweatdropped as they crashed through the door.

"There's no one in here," Sanji noticed. "Go, Zoro!"

Zoro ran, but he dodged almost immediately as the air in front of him suddenly shimmered, and an arrow flew past his shoulder. As it was, it grazed him.

"Good reflexes," a voice commented out of the air. A man shimmered into view. He was a rather pudgy man, and in his hands was a bow with an arrow ready to the string. "You are all going to suffer at the hands of Abura-sama…" the man started making a long speech about how they were going to die there by his hand and his invincible powers…

Chopper suddenly remembered something. "Sanji! You have to go with Zoro through the door too!"

"The hell… why?"

"There's still one more floor! The guy in the great hall said so, Hoshi's on the fourth floor down!"

Usopp clenched his fists. "That's right! You guys have to go!"

"You two going to be alright with this guy?" Zoro asked.

Chopper bared his teeth. "This guy's nothing."

"Ha!" Usopp snorted. "The likes of him are no match for the great… CAPTAAAAAAAIN USOPP-SAMA!!!"

Sanji and Zoro grinned. "Yosh, we'll leave the rest to you then," Sanji called as they ran past the chubby man. He continued his speech even as they ran past him and through the door.

Usopp sweatdropped. "Are all the people here idiots?"

Abura finally stopped talking and gaped in astonishment. "Where'd those other two go?" he demanded.

Chopper and Usopp fell down.

* * *

Corazon laughed at the sight of Hoshi. "How, exactly, will you protect yourself from me? Both your arms were immobilized to begin with, and one is broken. Your mental state is crumbling."

"You're wrong," Hoshi spat. With her uninjured arm, she used that shoulder to wipe her mouth. "My mental state is just fine, and my only problem really is that you taste like CRAP." Hoshi paused for a moment, a little confused. Why was it she felt more comfortable insulting Corazon in her situation then she did at the masquerade last night? She didn't really have an answer for that, but she had a hint. Making polite conversation at parties was a dead end for her, but being in a dire situation and insulting the enemy… it just made her feel more whole.

Corazon's eyes flared in anger. "Listen to me, my dear. You must be very careful how you address me."

"Ate anything rotten recently? Sure tastes like it."

"That's it." Corazon moved so fast, Hoshi hadn't even seen that he had moved before she found herself being crushed against a wall again. She cried out as more of her ribs cracked and her broken arm was jammed against the wall. Corazon put his face very close to hers. "You are so lucky that I like you," he whispered. "If I didn't, you'd be dead now."

"Ah… you see, being dead… would cause some problems," Hoshi gasped. "For me… and for you."

"Why, my dear, would I be affected by your death?"

Hoshi grinned. "Because my nakama… are coming for me, and when… they do, you're going to have hell to pay."

* * *

Zoro and Sanji hurtled down the third flight of stairs. "Are those two really going to be alright?" Sanji muttered, looking back.

"They can take care of themselves," Zoro growled. He increased his pace. "Let's hurry!"

"Right!"

Sanji reached the door first and kicked it down. He ran across the room as if making for the door, but a big blue form suddenly came out of nowhere and tripped him. Sanji flipped on his hands to avoid falling and turned. When he saw what had tripped him, his eyebrow started twitching.

"A… fish?"

Zoro ran into the room and jumped over the fish. He ran for the opposite door. "Sanji! I'm going to leave this one to you!"

Sanji raised his hand in acknowledgement, and Zoro barged through the door and ran at top speed down the final flight of steps.

* * *

Sanji took a long drag on his cigarette and peered at the fish curiously. It was dark blue, with spikes running down its back, and two huge puppy-eyes. It just kept staring at him.

Nothing happened. The fish didn't do anything except stare at him. Sanji continued looking it over, wondering if it was possible to cook the thing.

"You have pretty good reflexes," a voice commented. A man stepped out of the shadows, holding a cooking knife in each hand. "I didn't think you would stay on your feet after tripping over something at that speed.

Sanji glanced at the man. "So… who the hell are you?" he asked casually.

"I am Karaage, chief cook of the Devil's Hearts," the man answered good-naturedly. "Sakana, come."

The fish made a gurgling sound and flopped over.

"Interesting," Sanji commented. "I happen to be a cook myself."

Karaage lifted an eyebrow, looking him over. "That's questionable," he commented. "You don't look like it."

"Care to try me?"

Karaage laughed. "Not at the moment. Right now, my job is to fry you up and serve your head on a silver platter to Master Corazon."

"As if a second-rate cook like you could do that."

Karaage changed the subject suddenly. "Why are you all so interested in that girl? She's just your musician. There are a million musicians out there, she can be replaced easily."

Sanji's eye was shadowed as he dropped his cigarette and ground it under one foot.

"I've done some background checks on her too. She's wanted by the World Government for 250,000,000 Beli. Isn't she a burden on you all?"

"Enough with the talk," Sanji growled. He darted in the first offensive. "Broshette!" he yelled.

Karaage caught Sanji's foot easily in one hand. The blonde cook's eyes widened in shock as the bigger man threw him into the wall.

"You're weak," Karaage informed the crater in the wall. He held up his scarred hands. "How can you get any power by just using your legs?" he laughed. "You can't protect anyone by fighting like that!!"

* * *

Nami twirled her Clima Tact, making a new set of clouds. "Robin, can you cover me?"

"Of course," the historian replied, stepping between Nami and Choukou.

Choukou laughed. "Well, whatever you're trying now, I'm not going to let you finish!" Moving in a flash, Robin and Nami suddenly felt blows to the backs of their heads, and they fell as blackness filled their vision for a moment.

When Nami's vision cleared, she thought she was hallucinating for a moment. She blinked, and when the hallucination didn't disappear, she realized what must have happened.

"Oh damn," Nami muttered, just as Luffy barged through the door.

"Huh? What's going on? Nami?" Luffy asked.

Nami looked up and noticed something right away. "Luffy, your arm!"

Luffy grinned. "It's nothing, but more importantly… WHY ARE THERE TWO ROBINS?!?"

* * *

Hoshi stumbled out of the way as Corazon lunged for her again. She cried out as she fell against the bars on her broken arm. "Damn, if only my arms were free!" she muttered as involuntary tears of pain flowed down her cheeks.

Corazon laughed. "You have absolutely no chance of staying away," he informed her. "I'll have my way with you, you'll see."

Hoshi spat on his boot. "Like hell you will."

Corazon reached for her again, but she let herself fall, sliding down the bars so he grabbed the bars instead of her. He grinned down at her. "I've got you right where I want you now, my dear."

"How many times to I have to say it, you bastard! I'm not 'your dear'! Stay away from me!" Hoshi yelled, sweeping Corazon's legs from underneath him. Her ribs screamed, and stars filled her gaze as the impact jarred her body.

Corazon picked himself up, his eyes shadowed. He picked Hoshi up by her neck and started choking her against the bars. She tried to breathe, but he had completely cut off her airway. She closed her eyes as her mind started clouding. "That'll be quite enough now," he whispered into her ear. He stroked her jawbone tenderly. "You'll give me what I want, and everything will b-"

"NIGIRI!"

The bars of the cell, suddenly cut clean through by a pair of swords, fell to the floor with a clatter. Hoshi fell with them, but landed in a pair of strong, muscled arms. Her head cleared as she gasped for air, and she cracked her eyes open. An overwhelming flood of joy and relief coursed through her entire being as she realized who it was.


	10. Battles Raging On

**Author's Note: Okay, I've been pretty good about posting timely for a while, right? But the price has been that my exam studying time is going down the drain!! Sorry, but this is going to be the last chapter for a couple of weeks! bows frantically SORRY!!!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it**

Chapter Ten: Battles Raging On

The two Robins stared at Nami and Luffy.

"Damn, which one's the real Robin?" Nami muttered.

Luffy crossed his arms and stared alternately between the two Robins with a frown on his face. Nami glanced at him. "What are you doing? Can you tell the difference?"

He just stood there like that as a bead of sweat rolled down his face. Nami actually looked at him this time. _He's onto something…_she thought.

Suddenly Luffy raised a hand. Everyone tensed… this was sure to be it… but he waved it in the air. "It's no good, I really can't tell which one's the real one."

Nami hit him on the head. "MORON! THEN SAY SO IN THE FIRST PLACE!!"

The two Robins sweatdropped as a Nami and Luffy disappeared inside a dust cloud.

Robin One said to Robin Two, "Oi… are these guys like this all the time?"

Robin Two smiled. "Yes, so it seems."

Nami didn't notice the conversation: she was too busy attacking Luffy in a fit of fury. Luffy didn't either: he was too busy trying to protect himself.

Finally, the dust cloud died. Nami wiped her brow and looked at the two Robins. "Okay, we need to figure this out somehow…"

"Just ask them questions," Luffy said, standing up and dusting himself off. "If one of 'em can't answer a question, then that means they aren't the real Robin!"

Nami stared at Luffy in shock. "What's wrong?" he asked, looking at her face.

"Did you… Luffy, did you actually figure that out all by yourself?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

Nami recovered from the shock and faced the two Robins. "Yosh, let's see if this works. Robins! What is Luffy's favorite food?"

"Meat," they both replied simultaneously.

"Um… what do I love more than anything?"

"Money," they both answered.

Robin One smiled to herself. _That's a good plan, and it might have worked if the power of the Devil's Fruit also didn't give me a heightened ability of mimicry._

Robin Two calmly answered the questions, figuring something out.

* * *

"FOOD FIGHT!!" Karaage roared. He threw meatballs at Sanji. The blonde cook dodged, but what he wasn't expecting was for the meatballs to explode on contact. 

"What the hell…" he muttered. Karaage laughed.

"Surprised? These meatballs are very popular at lunchtimes here!" Sanji glanced at the hole in the wall caused by the meatballs and narrowed his eyes.

"Don't let your guard down!" Karaage roared, punching Sanji into the wall again. "Jeez, what were you looking at anyways? Those are just my Special Meatballs. Served with tomato sauce and noodles!"

Karaage whipped out a plate and prepared a serving of spaghetti as Sanji picked himself up. The blonde cook watched Karaage carefully. "Would you like to try some of it?" Karaage asked.

"Not at the moment… no," Sanji replied.

Karaage grinned evilly. "Oh, but you'll have to. You have no choice!" he yelled, throwing the plate of spaghetti at Sanji. Sanji tried to dodge it, but it suddenly changed course in midair and followed him, landing on his back. The meatballs exploded.

Karaage laughed as smoke filled the room. "HA! I told you, you had to try my special course!" he laughed. As the smoke cleared, Sanji's form, badly burned, appeared in the wall. "That finished him off, did it?" the bigger man mused.

The fish bounced up and down a little as Karaage wiped off his hands. "Well c'mon Sakana. Let's go see if any of the others need help." He started walking out of the room when he heard a sound behind him. Turning, he spotted Sanji standing up. "Oh, you can still stand, can you?"

"Like hell something like that will kill me."

Karaage spat on the floor. "Guess you need another serving of spaghetti then, don't you?" he asked, whipping up another plate. He threw it at Sanji. "Enjoy your meal!" he yelled.

Sanji raised a foot and took the explosion on the sole of his shoe. The polished shoe dripped tomato sauce. Sanji fixed the man with a death glare. "You're going to get it now," he growled.

* * *

Chopper went into some sort of transformation frenzy, trying to dodge all the arrows that Abura was shooting at him. Usopp was alternately hiding behind Chopper and running around the room, screaming. 

"Ah, just stay still already!" Abura yelled in frustration.

"L-like hell we're going to do that!!" Usopp shouted, dodging an arrow that imbedded itself into the wall behind him.

"What's with these arrows?!" Chopper realized. "They can cut stone!!"

Abura grinned. "It's a special material. I call it Ichiban Flayer. It's a material specifically made…" Abura's face darkened. "… for silent assassination."

Chopper and Usopp's eyes widened. "A-assassination?!" Chopper picked up an arrow and examined the tip curiously.

The pudgy man's face lit up. "Yes!" he crooned. "Isn't it wonderful!? It's made to slice your flesh and cut your heart open before you even kn-"

"You're wrong!" Chopper yelled.

Usopp looked at Chopper in confusion. The reindeer's hands were balled into fists, and his teeth were clenched. "I… I just recognized that material." His face darkened, and his eyes were murderous.

"Chopper! Calm down!"

"'Calm down'? No! That material comes from DRUM ISLAND. It was supposed to help in surgical operations to make the patient feel less pain! It… It's… IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE USED FO KILLING!!"

Abura laughed. "Who says such idiotic things like that?! Knives are made to cut! It doesn't matter what!"

"SHUT UP!" Chopper roared. "I'll… I'll NEVER forgive people like you who abuse medical technology like that!!"

Usopp stared in astonishment. "Chopper…"

Abura grinned. "Looks like I'll start having to go serious on you guys." He started disappearing from their vision. "Power of the Toku Toku no Mi (Hide Hide Fruit)… activate!!"

"It doesn't matter where you go!" Usopp yelled, loading a small lead ball into his slingshot. "NAMAIIBOSHI!!" he yelled, firing it right between Abura's eyes. It flew straight through.

"Unfortunately, you only hit my after-image," came his voice from every direction. "Now you have to guess where I am… before you die by my arrows."

* * *

Zoro ran down the stairs, breathing hard. It wasn't really the run itself that was making him breathe hard, but it was the fact that he was so close now, he could hear Hoshi trying to defend herself against that Corazon bastard. 

"Damn, only if my arms were free!" he heard Hoshi mutter.

Corazon's voice slid over him like some sort of grating metal. "You have absolutely no chance of staying away. I'll have my way with you, you'll see." Anger flared through his body and he ran faster.

"How many times do I have to tell you, you bastard!! I'm not 'your dear'! Stay away from me!" Zoro growled. Hoshi was still fighting so hard…

He'd reached the dungeons! Hoshi's and Corazon's voices were coming from right around the corner now… Turning it, he swept his gaze inside the cell, took in the situation, and acted in an instant. "NIGIRI!!"

Hoshi landed in his arms as Corazon hit his face on the floor. He readjusted his hold when he saw that her arm was broken. Putting her belly-down gently, he broke the chains that bound her arms and leaned her against the wall. For a moment, he thought she was unconscious until she cracked open her eyes. She stared at him for a second, then she started painfully laughing as tears started running down her cheeks. "Zoro!" she whispered, her voice hoarse.

Zoro felt a wave of conflicting emotions clash inside of him. He was relieved that Hoshi was still alive, and it didn't seem like Corazon had done anything _physical _yet: he had gotten here in time. But he was also furious at Hoshi's condition. Hoshi was more beaten up than he had first realized. She was covered in bruises; her hands were bleeding; her arm was broken, and from the looks of things, it seemed like some of her ribs might be too. And also… there was another feeling, a feeling of overwhelming protectiveness.

He tenderly wiped away her tears with his thumb. "Jeez, what'd you do to yourself? You look awful," he told her.

Hoshi grinned and reached up to touch his hand with her uninjured arm. Suddenly, she pinched it.

"OW!! What the hell was that for!?" Zoro yelled, a stress mark appearing on his head.

Hoshi's grin widened in relief. "Now I know you're real. You're not a hallucination."

Zoro was taken aback for a moment, before he retorted, "What the hell! I go through the trouble of getting down here and you pinch my hand like it's some sort o-"

Suddenly, Corazon's raspy voice filled the air. "Roranora Zoro, you bastard… you are going to pay dearly-"

"Oh?" Zoro turned to face Corazon. "I was about to say the same thing to you." He narrowed his eyes. "Hoshi," he said. "Do you mind waiting for a second while I pummel this guy?"

Hoshi chuckled softly. "Go ahead."

"It's going to get a little dangerous in here… get up the stairs and meet with the others if your body can handle it."

"Like hell," Hoshi retorted. "I can barely talk, let alone make it up the stairs."

Zoro turned his head and grinned at her. "Well if you get mixed up in this battle and die, I'm going to come kill you myself, understand?"

Hoshi smiled. "I trust you," she said simply.

Zoro looked at her for another second, then nodded slowly. "Okay." He knew what heavy weight she put on those words. Her trust was something really difficult to gain, considering what she had been through in the past. Drawing two swords, he took his stance. Corazon grabbed his pikestaff and faced Zoro.

The tension in the atmosphere grew. There was absolutely no movement, and the air itself seemed to stay frozen in the presence of these two conflicting wills.

Hoshi felt her heart start to race as the air grew thick with killing intent. She had never actually seen Zoro fight one on one before… and it was frightening, seeing him like this.

Suddenly, the tension reached the breaking point. Corazon and Zoro lunged for each other.

"Nitorryu…HIRAMEIKI!"

"Bakuryou Tsukaite… INCISO!"

They clashed with an enormous shock wave that resonated in the room. Hoshi gagged slightly as it hit her.

In a flurry of movement, Zoro and Corazon suddenly began attacking one another, blocking and attacking furiously, too fast for Hoshi to follow.

They broke and jumped away from each other. Now they were eyeing each other in a new light, each remodeling their opinions of the other.

Corazon grinned. "You're pretty good."

Zoro drew his Maitou and put it into his mouth. "Same to you."

They attacked each other again.

"Santoryuu… HYOU KIN DAMA!"

"RODAJA!"

With another shock wave, they clashed again, but this time, something was different. Corazon was putting all his strength into blocking Zoro this time.

"Bastard, just what the hell are you?" Corazon demanded, sweat running down his face.

Zoro grinned. "I'm a swordsman, what's it look like?"

Corazon's eyes lit with insane madness. "Ha! That's true, alright."

They broke their holds on each other. "I'll have you know, I myself don't have a power of the Devil's Fruit, but I am still powerful enough to bring three of them under my command with just this one staff!" Corazon roared.

"So? What about it?" Zoro asked.

"It means I'm very powerful! I haven't even been using ten percent of my power against you?"

Zoro scowled. "Bring it on then."

Corazon cackled. "Oh, I will." His face darkened menacingly. "Believe me… I will."

Almost before Zoro had even realized Corazon had moved, a deep gash opened on his chest.

Zoro fell to one knee, but he didn't drop any of his swords. Breathing heavily, he glanced at Corazon standing right behind him with an insane grin.

"How do you like it?" Corazon asked. "Being struck down so easily? THAT is my power!"

He heard his blood pounding in his ears. Almost as if from far away, he heard a voice screaming. "Zoro!"

_Hoshi…_

Zoro pulled himself to his feet and fixed Corazon with one of his death glares. "You've done some pretty bad things," he informed Corazon. "You're going to have hell to pay through me."

Corazon stopped short. Something Hoshi had said earlier suddenly echoed in his head. _"Because my nakama… are coming for me, and when… they do, you're going to have hell to pay."_

His jaw tightened. "You people are pretty cheeky to be saying stuff like that to me. What can you do, all cut up like that?"

"This? This wound is nothing," Zoro taunted.

Corazon suddenly smiled. "Well then, if that one doesn't affect you… how about this one?" he asked. Moving in that lightening-manner of his again, he came behind Zoro…

And stabbed Hoshi clean through her waist.

Hoshi's scream of pain was nothing like anything that the two men present had heard before. Zoro's eyes widened, and fury erupted in his chest like a starved beast of prey.

Hoshi's head lolled on her chest. Her aqua eyes were almost a dark navy now. "Zo… ro…" she whispered, her voice thick with pain.

Zoro snapped. "BASTARD!" he roared. Corazon wrenched his staff out of Hoshi quick enough to block Zoro's oncoming attack. Zoro felt his fury rise at the sight of Hoshi's blood decorating the blade with a sick, shining red pattern.

Corazon smirked. "Looks like this is one wound that affects you, Roranora Zoro."

Zoro growled and disengaged. He knew that there was now a time limit to this match… which would be determined by however long Hoshi could cling to life with a wound like that.

He had to win this as soon as possible, or else Hoshi would die…

"Z… Zoro…" Hoshi gasped. She lifted her head a little, her eyes still an unsettling shade of dark navy. "D… Don't worry about me… I… I'll hang on… for as long as you need."

Zoro didn't know what to think. "Hoshi…"

She smiled a little. "Do your best."

**Again, I apologize, but this will be the last update for a couple weeks, unless maybe I can squeeze one in tomorrow… but that's going to be it!**


	11. Back to the Ship!

**Author's Note: Okay, I know that I said I need to study, which I do, but good thing for you all, I LOVE WRITING THIS STORY TOO MUCH TO STAY AWAY FROM IT FOR THAT LONG!! XD How pathetic is that? I'll update as much as I can!**

**Disclaimer: I dooooooooon't oooooooooooooown iiiiiiiiiiiiiiit, pleeeeeeeeeease doooooooooon't suuuuuuuuuuuuue meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…**

Chapter Eleven: Back to the Ship!

Sanji dodged several cooking knives that buried themselves into the wall behind him. Karaage laughed insanely. "You can't do anything or protect anyone if you just dodge!"

The blonde cook snapped. "I can't protect anyone, huh?!" he roared, darting in and kicking Karaage. "Poi Trine! Epaule! Chicot! Cotette!"

Karaage fell to his knees, wheezing in pain. "Bastard, you'll pay for that!" he yelled, once he had gotten his breath back. He threw another plate of spaghetti at Sanji, which he took on the sole of his shoe again.

Sanji eyes were heavily shadowed as he raised his leg in the air. "You have committed three unforgivable acts in my presence." He glanced at the spaghetti on the sole of his shoe.

"What are you babbling about now?" Karaage asked, preparing a few more plates of the explosive spaghetti.

"First…" Sanji rushed in, kicking the bigger man underneath the chin. "You have wasted food." Karaage went flying over his fish. "Tresime Hache!"

Darting underneath him, Sanji kicked upwards into Karaage's back. "Second…You have the guts to call yourself a cook in front of me." Karaage slammed into the ceiling. "Deuxime Hache!"

"Finally… and most unforgivably…" Sanji spun in the air. "You insulted my precious nakama!" He kicked Karaage's head into the floor, where there came a nasty crack. "Primer Hache!"

Looking down with satisfaction at the beat up Karaage, Sanji sighed and took out a cigarette. Lighting it, he took a deep breath on it and looked at the terrified fish. The fish flopped out of the room in a fit of fear up the stairs. Sanji leaned against the table and just sat there, smoking, listening to the sounds of the fight down below.

* * *

"This is getting us NOWHERE!!" Nami screamed in frustration, a million questions later.

"It's sort of fun though!" Luffy commented, laughing.

"YOU SHUT UP!" Nami roared, punching Luffy into the wall.

Facing the two Robins in front of her, she twirled her Clima Tact. "Damn, I should've just done this from the beginning."

Neither Robin moved.

Luffy looked alarmed. "Nami! What are you going to do?"

"The logical way of doing this!" Nami formed clouds.

"W… what are you trying to do?!" Luffy was getting really upset now. "You're not going to electrocute them both, are you?"

"That would be one way to do it, since one of the Robins isn't affected by lightening, but then the real Robin would get hurt, idiot!" Nami retorted. "Anyways, clouds this thin… don't create lightening!"

Robin One suddenly looked unsettled. "Oi… what are you doing?"

Nami grinned. "Doesn't clay… dissolve when mixed with water? Therefore, it's no longer able to hold one shape, but is then nothing but mud!"

The clouds started to rain. "Rain Tempo!"

Robin One gasped as her form started melting. "O-oi! Stop this!"

Robin Two smiled and stood up. "Nice thinking, Kokaishi-san."

Nami grinned and gave her a thumb's up.

Luffy's eyes were popping out of his head. "AH!! SHE'S MELTING!!!"

"Yes… that would be one disadvantage to the Devil's Fruit power she has," Robin commented. "Though I must ask, was your ability of mimicry an extension of your power?"

Choukou growled. "Yes," she muttered, as her true features emerged. She pulled three needles out of her sleeve. "But that doesn't matter now!" she yelled, throwing them at Robin.

Robin clenched her teeth as she raised her arms to protect herself, but the needles buried themselves deeply into her arm.

Choukou grinned, but it was suddenly wiped off her face when a fist punched her into the opposite wall. "How dare you hurt my nakama!" Luffy roared. Pulling his fist back, he looked at the two women before him. "Robin, you okay?"

Robin calmly pulled the needles out of her arm, keeping a straight face. "Yes, I'm okay. They didn't hit anything vital."

"Did everyone else go ahead?"

They both nodded. Luffy ran across the room. "Let's go!"

* * *

Chopper popped a yellow ball into his mouth and cracked it. "Rumble Ball: Brain Point!" He put his hooves out in front of him. "SCOPE!"

An arrow suddenly whistled through the air, slicing Usopp's shoulder as it flew by. He gasped and clutched his shoulder.

Sweat rolled down Chopper's face as he frantically scanned the room for a weak point. _Where is it… where is it!?_

Another arrow almost impaled Chopper, but he dodged it, instantly resuming his scanning.

Suddenly, he found it.

"Usopp! The direction of the arrows tells where he is!" Chopper yelled.

"Really?!" Usopp looked at the arrow that had buried itself into the floor in front of him. "So you're behind us, are you?" he asked. He took out his shot. "NAMAIIBOSHI!"

"ARGH!" Abura suddenly reappeared, clutching his nose. Usopp grinned.

"Damn, you both are going to pay for that!" Abura yelled. He put an arrow to the string and pulled it back.

Chopper jumped in front of Usopp. "Guard Point!" He changed into a huge ball of fluff and started rolling towards a frantically shooting Abura.

"It's useless!" Chopper yelled. "Arm Point… Koukutei Cross!!"

Abura's head was slammed into the wall. A small crater formed in the stone, then Abura crumpled to the floor in a sad heap.

"Guys!" Luffy, Nami, and Robin came running into the room. "You did it!"

"Yeah," Usopp nodded. "We just finished this guy off."

"Let's go! Hoshi's waiting for us!" Luffy yelled.

"AYE!"

* * *

Hoshi lay there, struggling for each breath as Zoro and Corazon's battle raged on. She felt herself fading, and alarm raced through her being.

_D… dammit! I can't go, not like this! I promised… I promised Zoro I would hold on! HOLD!!_ she desperately thought. Clutching her wound, she put as much pressure as she could with her one working arm. There was no longer any room in her mind for thought… only one word was in her mind, which she poured all her energy into. _**HOLD!**_

Zoro was all too aware how badly Hoshi was suffering. Through the clash of metal on metal, he could hear her labored breathing. He growled and rose into a harsh offensive. Corazon was almost driving him insane, what with that mocking grin of his. Suddenly, Corazon disengaged and leapt away.

_He's playing with me!_ Zoro suddenly realized. Anger coursed through his veins like liquid fire as he realized something else. _He's trying to waste my time._ Glancing behind him, he saw Hoshi clutching her belly, trying to cling to life as she waited for him to finish this battle.

"This isn't getting anywhere," Zoro informed the other man. "We're going to finish this ri-"

A wave of demonic energy suddenly cut off his words. _**Dear me**_, an unknown voice boomed. _**It seems that my human host is in quite a predicament.**_

Both men whirled around to face the source. Hoshi was sitting up straight in a casual position, a cruel smile on her face.

"H… Hoshi?" Zoro asked uncertainly, before he noticed something very important. Her eyes were no longer aqua, or even navy. They were a bright red, with slits serving as pupils. This was a strong reminder to Zoro about what a World Government officer had told them once:

"_Her DNA is that of a phoenix."_

Hoshi chuckled darkly. _**You've figured it out**_, she told Zoro. She shrugged with her uninjured shoulder. _**If it comforts you at all, the one you call 'Hoshi' isn't me. She's unconscious, and very close to dead.**_

Zoro found his voice. "How the hell is that supposed to comfort me?!"

She… it?... chuckled darkly again. _**She used up so much willpower in trying to stay alive, she was unknowingly tapping into my power to do it. She's lucky that she woke me up, or else she'd be dead. Not from her wounds even, but the inability of her body to withstand the amount of power she was trying to take.**_

"Your power, huh?" Zoro growled.

The phoenix nodded. _**Even I cannot use my full power in this form, else we would both die.**_

"W… what the hell is that?!" Corazon yelled, falling to his knees. "It… it's a monster!!"

The phoenix's eyes flared, and a tongue of the demonic energy flickered ominously. _**An 'it', you say?**_ Corazon screamed and put his head to the floor. _**Large words for someone who was trying to take advantage of this body earlier.**_

She glanced at Zoro. _**I'm surprised you're still standing**_, she informed him. _**Most humans would fall because the presence of my power is too much for their bodies to handle. Like the one over there.**_

Zoro grinned. "I'm not most humans."

The phoenix chuckled, not so darkly this time. _**I can see that.**_ She looked less threatening now, and the feeling of that demonic power was ebbing slowly. Closing her eyes for a second, there was a moment of silence before she spoke again. _**Hoshi is fading, because the state of her spirit is tied directly with the health of the body. And… even I cannot keep this body alive for too much longer.**_

"W-what was that?!"

_**I am using as much power to keep this body alive as I can without killing it, which is not much. Though I dwell in her soul, she is the primary spirit. This body is severely weakened, and the only reason it is still alive now is her will to live. I have taken temporary control over the body to limit her access to my powers for reasons previously explained**_, the phoenix snapped. _**However…**_ she coughed out some blood. _**If the wounds are not treated soon, then Hoshi and I will both fade. **_

Zoro got the idea. He turned to Corazon, who was still cowering on the floor. "I said earlier, this has gone on for too long. We're ending this now."

Corazon stood up shakily and raised his pikestaff. "I agree," he growled. "I'm going to kill the both of you right this instant!"

They rushed towards each other.

"**ONIGIRI!"**

"**ULITIMO GOLPE!!"**

That was the final blow. There was a moment of frozen silence, before Corazon fell with a yell onto the floor, twin gashes opening on his chest.

Zoro wasted no time. He sheathed his swords in a flash, and then ran over to Hoshi. "Can you be moved?"

She cracked open one eye. _**No, but I have to be anyway. I can't keep this body alive too much longer. Hurry.**_

Carefully, Zoro picked her up bridal style. Jostling her as little as he could, he started running up the stairs to find Chopper.

* * *

Sanji grinned as he heard running feet from both open doors on either side of him.

Luffy, Nami, Robin, Chopper, and Usopp came from one side, and Zoro came from the other, holding Hoshi.

"Zoro! You got her!" Nami cried out in relief.

"Zoro, you bastard!" Sanji yelled. "What the hell happened to Hoshi-chan!?"

Chopper suddenly saw how bad a condition Hoshi was in. "D-doc… doctor…!"

"THAT'S YOU!" everyone yelled at him.

"Oh, right." Chopper was suddenly all buisiness. "Zoro, put Hoshi down gently. I need to do an examination." He took off his backpack and about two minutes later, his face fell. "Besides her broken arm, she has seven cracked ribs, and the wound in her middle pierced the wall of her stomach. On top of that… she's getting a very high fever."

"Is she going to be alright?" Zoro demanded.

Chopper swallowed. "I… I don't know. I have to work fast."

The Straw Hats waited in anxious silence, gathered at the other end of the room. Five minutes later, pounding footsteps were heard.

"They're in the dungeons!"

"Quick, we need to arrest them as quickly as possible!"

Nami growled. "What a time for the Marines to come!!!"

Luffy cracked his knuckles. "Well, we're not going to let them get into this room," he said.

"AYE!" everyone responded. They walked out into the stairwell and waited, the footsteps coming closer.

Chopper continued working, sweat rolling down his face.

A flurry of movement happened as soon as the first Marine was in sight at the top of the stairwell.

"GOMU GOMU NO GATTELING GUN!"

"Santorryu... TATSUMAKI!"

"FIVE STAR KICK COURSE!"

"THUNDERBOLT TEMPO!"

"NAMAIIBOSHI!"

"Veinte Fleurs... CLUTCH!"

Most of the Marines were unconscious by the time Chopper came stumbling out into the stairwell. Everyone stopped fighting for a second to look at him. He seemed relieved, but there was urgency in his voice. "I've stopped the bleeding, and her arm's in a splint now, but we need to get her to the ship as soon as possible. The herbs I have with me aren't going to be enough to bring down her fever, which is the most dangerous thing at the moment!"

"The ship?" Luffy asked. "We have to go back now then?"

Chopper nodded. Luffy dealt a few last punches before he started running up the stairs. "Zoro! Get Hoshi, and let's go!"

Zoro didn't waste any time arguing. He piggybacked Hoshi and started running up the stairs after the crew. Sanji looked back at Zoro and called, "Remember Zoro, you can't do any fighting, not with Hoshi on your back!"

"What?!"

"Any blow that you deal or receive, all the shock is going to transfer right into Hoshi, and she can't handle that sort of thing in her condition right now!"

"He's right!" Nami added. "Just leave everything to us. Concentrate on getting Hoshi to the ship!"

Zoro growled, but he realized that they were right. The heat radiating from Hoshi's body into his own was a strong reminder of that. He nodded. "Got it."

The Straw Hats fought their way through a sea of Marines, that were blocking them, up the stairs, through the grand hall, out the door, and finally, they ran on the path back to town.

But entering the streets of the town, they were greeted by thunderous cheers of welcome from the townspeople. People were laughing, hugging each other, and crying. The reign of Corazon was OVER!! Unfortunately, doing this heroic act proved against the Straw Hats. They got through the crowd with immense difficulty. People kept shoving drinks or food or confetti into their faces, trying to congratulate them on the victory. They ignored everything and just pushed through the crowd, but it was at an agonizingly slow pace. For them, things weren't alright yet. They had their nakama back, yes, but she was dying, and she would leave them forever if they couldn't get back to their ship! Zoro ground his teeth in frustration, feeling the vibrations of Hoshi's labored breathing through is back.

Luffy finally snapped. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" he roared. "JUST LET US GET BACK TO OUR SHIP ALREADY AND LEAVE US ALONE!! OUR NAKAMA IS HURT, DAMN IT!"

There was a sudden hush, then the crowd melted away. The Straw Hats made it back to their ship without any further hassle.

Three minutes later, Hoshi was in a bed in the sickroom with Chopper attending to her. The crew spread themselves out on the deck, waiting…

They waited a really long time. The sound of parties celebrating the downfall of the Devil's Hearts constantly floated over the ship. Sanji made lunch, which they dug into… except Zoro. Even though he hadn't eaten anything that day except for a couple apples, he didn't feel hungry. His stomach was all knotted up anyways. As the day wore on, the tension in the air just kept growing. No one really spoke much as they waited for Chopper to come out with the answer to the question that was burning in their minds.


	12. Midnight Moment

**Author's Note: Okay, I know I need to study, BUT!! BUT BUT BUT I can't stay away from it, I love writing it so much! XD **

**Disclaimer: Don't own it, don't sue me**

Chapter Twelve: Midnight Moment

Zoro sat at the front of the ship, leaning his head against the banister and watching the clouds move slowly across the sky, heading for some unknown destination. He closed his eyes and tried to relax. He tried not to think anything at all… just tried to clear his mind.

It didn't work. His mind remained a tight knot of worry and tension. They had all fought so hard to get her back… but even still, now there was an enemy at hand that he wasn't able to just slice up and get rid of. He scowled at the darkening sky. The feeling of helplessness almost drove him over the edge. He absolutely HATED being helpless. It was good that none of the crew was really active that day. He probably would have bitten someone's head off for breathing too loudly or something equally stupid.

The day passed agonizingly slowly.

Finally… _finally,_ Chopper stumbled out of the sickroom, utterly exhausted, just as the sun was about to set.

"Hoshi's going to be alright!" he announced, a tired grin making its way onto his face.

It was as if someone had suddenly taken off a million tons of lead from the weight of the air and gravity had ceased to exist.

Luffy and Usopp whooped and started dancing around. "Hoshi's going to be alright! She's going to be okay!" they sang.

Robin, Sanji, and Nami all grinned, immensely relieved.

Zoro walked up to Chopper. "Can we see her now?"

Chopper nodded.

When they all walked into the room, the first thing they noticed was the metallic scent of blood lingering in the air. Chopper had changed Hoshi's bandages, it seemed. She looked exhausted almost beyond human endurance… but at the same time, there was a feeling of peace around her being. A wet cloth had been put onto her forehead.

Chopper followed everyone into the room. "She still has a slight fever, but that should go away soon," he said. "All she needs now is rest."

Nami grinned and patted Chopper on the head. "Good job, Chopper!"

Chopper froze, then suddenly started doing his little happy dance. "You're words don't make me happy at all, asshole!" he sang. "It doesn't work on m-" He fell down, tripping over his own feet.

"I think you should get some rest now, Isha-san," Robin commented, smiling. "You need your rest after working so hard."

Chopper gingerly stood up and nodded before glancing at Hoshi. "She still has a fever, but it's not as bad as it was before. Someone needs to keep the cloth on her forehead cool with the bucket of water beside the bed." Then he collapsed onto the floor, little spirals in his eyes. "Sooo sleeeeepy…"

Nami jumped in. "Zoro! Why don't you do it? I bet the rest of us are really tired from fighting so hard today!"

Zoro sweatdropped. "That doesn't look like a tired face to me…"

"Huh?" Luffy asked. "I'm not tired at a-"

"Shut up moron!" Nami yelled, punching her captain out the door.

Luffy yelled as he sailed over the deck, over Merry's head, and into the water. "S-SABE BEE (Save me!)" he gurgled.

Sanji sighed. "Guess I have to save him…" He left, stubbing his cigarette on his way out.

Robin picked up the sleeping Chopper. "I'm going to put Isha-san in bed," she said, before walking out the door.

"Usopp," Nami said. "You need to help me. We need to get some supplies for the ship. The Log's going to be set the day after tomorrow so we have to make some preparations."

"Yosh," Usopp said. He followed Nami out, closing the door behind him.

Nami winked. "Zoro! Take good care of Hoshi!"

Zoro suddenly found himself alone in the room. "What the hell…" he muttered.

* * *

Later that night, Hoshi woke up. Panic flooded her body for a second before she realized where she was: the Going Merry! She grinned and sat up, wincing a bit as the wound in her side sent a shiver of pain through her body. Her ribs weren't as bad, but her arm was still broken clean through. 

She grinned as she saw that Zoro had fallen asleep in the chair next to her bed. Quietly, so she wouldn't disturb him, she pushed the covers back and walked across the floor. She had been indoors for too long, and her entire being was aching for the sky.

Hoshi had put her hand on the doorknob when a voice spoke. "Where're you going?" Zoro asked, looking at her questioningly.

"For a flight," she replied. "Sorry, did I wake you up?"

"No." Zoro stood up. "Mind if I come out too? I need to stretch my legs."

Hoshi smiled. "No, not at all!"

They walked outside. Hoshi took a deep breath of the night air and let it out happily. "I've been inside for way too long," she murmured. Using her good arm, she vaulted over the banister. With a flash of light, she pulled out her wings and ran across the deck. Jumping over Merry's head, she flapped down hard several times, and was airborne. She savored the sensation of the night air filling her wings, lifting her up higher and higher into the sky. Looking up at the stars set in the black fabric of night, she felt dizzy with glee. Nothing in the world could be better than flying after a couple days cooped up inside.

Zoro leaned against the banister, tilting his head up to keep an eye on the two white wings outlined against the stars. She circled the ship in lazy patterns. He almost smiled… but an echo of her scream of pain bolted through his mind and he looked at the planks that made up the floor. He scowled at them as guilt rooted itself inside his stomach.

He had been _there _when Hoshi had gotten stabbed. He could have _done_ something about it, but instead he had just stood there like some sort of freaking idiot while she'd been stabbed through…

_"I trust you."_

His scowl deepened, and he tried to bore a hole in a plank by glaring at it. _I'm still weak…_ he thought fiercely.

Hoshi flew down. "I hope you're not trying to put even more holes in Merry," she grinned. "Usopp wouldn't like that too much."

Zoro glanced at her, then continued staring at the plank without saying anything. Hoshi's face fell a little, and she pulled in her wings. "Zoro… what's wrong?"

Zoro couldn't look at her. He continued to stare at the plank, saying nothing.

He was so focused on the plank, it came as quite a shock to him when Hoshi broke his sightline by putting her face one inch from his, making a face by pulling down one eyelid and sticking out her tongue. There was a second of frozen silence before Zoro yelled and fell over the banister to land on his head.

"Dammit Hoshi, what was that for?!" he yelled, clutching his head as a stress mark appeared on his face.

Hoshi leaned on the banister and grinned. "That's better." Zoro stopped short, surprised, as Hoshi chuckled. "This is more like you."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Her grin faded a little. She touched her wound with her unbroken arm. "I'm not stupid enough to try to convince you that this isn't your fault. You're so stubborn sometimes," she murmured. "But don't beat yourself up. I got hurt. So what?" Hoshi shrugged. "It's not like I haven't been injured before."

A memory of Hoshi screaming with the pain when she was stabbed through flashed through Zoro's mind. He clenched his teeth.

Hoshi scowled. "See what I mean?" she snapped. "You're still beating yourself up. Stop it already." She jumped down and punched him on the head… in the same spot where he had fallen. "Idiot."

"OUCH!"

She grinned, then offered a hand to help him up. "Jeez, you're so hard-headed sometimes," she sighed. "C'mon, stand up."

Zoro grinned a little and took the hand. As she lifted him up, she chuckled. "There," she said, noting the grin. "That's better."

He looked at her face, so full of trust and happiness and joy… suddenly, a giant hurt welled up inside him. He grabbed her and pulled her into an embrace. "Hoshi," he murmured. "I… don't want to see you in such pain again." That flash of her screaming face… he tightened his hold and didn't say anything more as another wave of hurt crashed into him.

Hoshi was stunned for a moment, but then tears started forming in her eyes and she started trembling as she realized how much he was suffering. "Zoro…"

Suddenly, anger flared inside her, and she pushed him away. "Why?" she whispered fiercely. "Why the hell do YOU have to suffer too?! It doesn't… It's not even your body!"

Zoro stumbled back a little, but quickly regained his balance… quick enough to see two bright tears fall out of her aqua eyes. They shone like two falling stars before they became nothing but wet spots on the deck. That was almost the breaking point for him. As she turned away, he grabbed her unbroken arm, and he met her eyes squarely. "That doesn't matter," he said. He gazed into the depths of her aqua eyes with complete sincerity, before he suddenly turned red. He let go of her arm and coughed, breaking his gaze. Zoro inwardly winced. That had been totally instinctive, but he didn't know what to do now. _Damn…_

Hoshi felt waves of mixed emotion take over her body. "Zoro, you…" A particularly strong wave locked her voice away in a little box. Her throat worked, but nothing came out.

Zoro cleared his throat. "Um… that was… I mean-"

He didn't get a chance to say anything more. Hoshi came and put her arms around him, silent tears of gratitude pouring down her cheeks. "Thank you," she whispered. He stiffened for a second, then relaxed, draping his own arms around her shoulders. They stood like that for a little while, content just to be near each other.

Finally Zoro asked, "Hoshi?"

He raised an eyebrow, then chuckled when he realized she had gone to sleep. Picking her up bridal style, he brought her back into the sickroom and gently tucked her in. She murmured and sighed a bit before settling down into slow and steady breathing. Zoro sat back down on his chair and watched her for a while, before sleep claimed him as well.

Above in the crow's nest, Robin sipped her tea and smiled.

* * *

Zoro woke up to the smell of soup. He lifted his head as Chopper came into the room, holding a tray containing a steaming cup of tea and soup. "How was she?" the reindeer asked, putting the tray on the table. 

"She was fine," Zoro answered.

Chopper did a quick examination. "Her fever is gone, and if she gets lots of rest, she'll be back to normal in a few days with her regeneration rate."

Zoro grinned. "That's good to hear."

Hoshi opened her eyes and sat up with a stretch. "Good morning," she yawned.

"Good morning!" Chopper piped cheerfully. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling great!" Hoshi said with a smile.

Zoro noticed something. "Your arm…?"

She grinned, bending down and picking up the tray of food. "It's still broken, but it's only a crack in the bone now." She slid off the cast, despite Chopper's protests. "If I take it easy, I won't need it anymore," she told the upset reindeer.

Nami poked her head in the door. "Oh Hoshi! You're awake!"

Hoshi smiled. "Good morning Nami!"

"Can you walk? There's going to be a festival today in town!"

Hoshi blinked, a spoonful of soup midway to her mouth. "Festival?"

Nami nodded. Usopp poked his head in the door. "It's actually in our honor, for defeating Corazon! Did Nami tell you? The Marines arrested him and tried to take the credit, but the townspeople were too smart to fall for that!" He laughed. "Of course, when the giant guard at the gate first stood, even I was surprised 'cause I thought he was some sort of small hill, but even as everyone else cowered in fear, I stood and fac-"

"So?" Nami asked, ignoring Usopp. "Do you feel like going out? We have to leave first thing tomorrow since the Marines are going to pick up our trail at any second now."

"I've never been to a festival before," Hoshi sheepishly admitted. "I've seen them, but I've never actually done anything."

"No way! Then you have to go to this one whether you like it or not! I'm going to fine you if you don't!!"

Zoro sweatdropped. "Oi…"

"We're all going to go together soon, so get your strength up!" Nami said decisively, marching out of the room dragging Chopper behind her. The door closed. "Sanji-kun! Is breakfast ready yet?" they heard her yell.

Hoshi suddenly started laughing, almost spilling her soup and tea. "Some wake up call!"

Zoro grinned. "You get used to it."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Well… never mind."

Hoshi drank all of her soup in a few gulps and drained her tea. "Ah, that was good!" she exclaimed. She jumped out of bed and started for the door. "Let's see if there's actually any food left over from breakfast. I'm starving!"

Zoro got up, reminded of his own hunger. "Come to think of it, I am too," he admitted. He hadn't had anything to eat since the apples yesterday morning.

Hoshi grinned. "What are the odds of any food being left over?"

Zoro winced, and they walked out of the room together. "So what really is a festival?" Hoshi asked. "I've seen some before but I never really went to one. People always seem to be having fun though."

Zoro looked slightly uncomfortable. "Um, yeah, that's sort of why people go to festivals… to have a good time..."

"And there's a whole ton of yummy treats too!" Usopp said, coming up behind them and startling them.

"Jeez Usopp, did you really have to do that?" Zoro growled. Usopp stuck his tongue out at the swordsman. Zoro got a stress mark on his head. "Get back here!" he yelled, chasing Usopp around the ship.

Usopp laughed. "Haaa haaaa, can't catch me!"

Hoshi sweatdropped as she watched them run around the ship before turning into the kitchen. She took a look then suddenly dropped to the floor, just as Luffy sailed over her head. "GET OUT OF HERE!!" Nami yelled. "WE'RE TRYING TO EAT IN PEACE!! Oh, sorry Hoshi! I didn't see you there!"

Hoshi stood up and dusted herself off. "Sort of picked that up," she commented. "Is there any food left over? I'm starved!"

"Haai Hoshi-chan!" Sanji sang. "It's coming right up!"

Hoshi sat at the table and glanced at the woman sitting on the other side. "Good morning Robin!"

"Good morning Gakushi-san," Robin smiled, looking up from the newspaper she was reading. "It's good to see you up and about."

Hoshi grinned. "Thanks to all of you! I couldn't have gotten out by myself."

Sanji put another plate of soup in front of Hoshi. She dug in eagerly. "Sanji, the soup is delicious!!"

Sanji grinned. "I'm glad you like it!"

Hoshi gulped it all down in a flash. She held up her plate and called, "Okawari!"

"Coming right up!" Sanji sang. He placed another bowl in front of her. "Here you go!" Hoshi gulped it down eagerly and put it down with a sigh.

"Sorry for my bad table manners," she apologized. Everyone laughed.

"Save some of your appetite for the festival," Nami advised. "You're going to need it!"

Zoro came into the kitchen. "Damn, Usopp runs fast," he gasped. "Any food left?"

"Get it yourself," Sanji snapped.

"Call yourself a cook?" Zoro demanded irritably.

"What was that, shitty Marimo head?!"

Hoshi stood, sweatdropping. "I think I'll go outside…" she muttered to no one in particular, before ducking out the door.

"Hoshi! You're up!" Luffy yelled, hanging by his knees from the mast.

"Get down here now!" she called. "You're going to kill yourself some day!"

Luffy laughed and hung by one leg. "Nah, that's 'some day', not today! There's a festival today, and I want to g- AHHH!!!"

Hoshi winced as Luffy hit the deck with a thud. He sat up, rubbing his head. "Ah, that surprised me," he commented, looking at the mast.

"How the hell did he survive before eating the Gomu Gomu no Mi?" Hoshi muttered, shaking her head in exasperation.

**Yay! ZoroxHoshi fluffiness, maybe I'll put more in the next chapter if you guys want. Festival… what could go wrong this time?! cackles evilly ONLY I KNOW!!!**


	13. Marine Ambush

**Author's Note: CHAPTER THIRTEEN FOR YOU LOYAL READERS THANKS FOR PUSHING WITH ME THIS FAR!! **

**Disclaimer: i don't own**

**Chapter Thirteen: Marine Ambush**

Hoshi stared in amazement. "T… this is…?"

"IT'S A FESTIVAL!! YAHOO!!" Luffy whopped, before running off to find the first food stall. It wasn't that far away…

Usopp chased him. "Oi, Luffy! Don't start eating everything before we've even paid for it!!"

Hoshi continued to stare at everything. "Wow… this is amazing!" she laughed. "I want, like, a million more eyes."

Nami laughed and put a hand on the raven-haired girl's shoulder. "Well, you have to pay for things," she said, stuffing a fistful of cash into Hoshi's hand.

Hoshi looked surprised, and a little suspicious. "I can have this?!"

Nami got an evil smirk on her face. "I'll be expecting 300 interest when you pay me back." She chuckled evilly.

Hoshi sweatdropped. _I knew it…_

Nami walked off. "Have a good time!"

One by one, the Straw Hats went in their own directions. Hoshi resumed her hunt for a music shop… but she hadn't gone far when she realized that all the stores were closed so that the keepers could go to the festival. People were all in good moods and celebrating. She bought a few candied rice balls and ate them as she walked down the path, trying to decide what to do first.

Zoro was less than inclined to trust this town after the events of their first day here, so he followed her at a distance.

Hoshi had started on her second ball when a small form hurtled into her back. Turning, she saw a small girl, about eight or nine, dressed in shabby clothes. She had light purple hair and black eyes. She screeched, then bowed frantically. "Sorry!"

"Hey, kid, get back here and give back those buns you stole!!" yelled a big man, running up.

Hoshi sweatdropped when she realized the girl had hidden behind her and was gobbling down the buns as fast as she could. The girl stuck her tongue out at the man with her cheeks stuffed full of steamed bun. A stress mark appeared on the man's head.

"YOU DAMN KID!" he roared, reaching behind Hoshi and picking up the girl by the cuff of her shirt. "Now that you've eaten them, you've gotta pay for them or I'll kick your ass from this side of town to the ne-"

He was interrupted suddenly by a foot cracking his arm. Hoshi quickly swung her leg back down and caught the girl before she hit the ground. She threw a couple coins on the ground in front of the man. "There's your money. Leave this kid alone now," she growled, shadows darkening her face.

The man was about to argue, but he made the mistake of meeting Hoshi's iced-over aqua eyes. Without another word, he scooped up the coins and ran back the direction he came.

Hoshi sighed and turned to look at her unexpected charge. The girl had stars in her eyes. "Waah neechan, you're amazing! Where'd you learn to do stuff like that?!

A painful flash of memories appeared in Hoshi's mind before she pushed it away. She scowled at the kid. "Before I tell you anything, you have to tell me your name first."

"I'm Sakura!" the girl said. She eyed Hoshi's purse through squinted eyes. Noticing the glance, Hoshi waited.

Suddenly, the Sakura's hand darted out, actually touching the purse before Hoshi grabbed her arm, threw her in the air, and punched her in the stomach. Then she dropped Sakura on the ground, where she lay on the cobblestones. The girl was in pain, coughing and wheezing, clutching her belly. Hoshi dusted off her hands. "Jeez, don't you have any manners?" She turned and started walking away. "Damn brat, get lost!"

Zoro watched, wondering what Hoshi was thinking. It was true that Hoshi was generally distrustful of people outside the crew (and for good reason too), but this was going a little extreme…

Sakura got up, lurching a bit, and turned to Hoshi's back. "I thought you were amazing, but you're actually a bad person, neechan!" she screamed in fury. "I take back what I said about you being ama-"

"Like I give a damn about that!" Hoshi called. She bit into the candied rice ball and continued walking. "Mm, these things are so good! I've got to get some more!"

"Listen to me when I'm talking to you!" Sakura started running after Hoshi in a fit of fury, but she stopped short when something clinked in her pocket. Reaching into it, she pulled out two coins and a few neatly folded green bills. Her eyes widened.

Zoro grinned and followed after Hoshi. "The acting was a little overboard, wasn't it?" he asked. "You actually hurt the kid."

Hoshi stuffed the last of the rice ball into her mouth. "Whatever, I don't care. If it wasn't me, it would've been someone else."

"The punch or the money?"

Hoshi looked at him innocently. "Money? Where'd that idea come from?" She stretched. "Jeez, you're so weird sometimes."

Zoro dropped the subject. He glanced around and he realized they were back in the main square… though it was virtually unrecognizable now under the stalls of food and rides and decorations. He thought the food stalls were alright, and the lanterns hanging overhead were a pretty nice touch, but the rides were a little overkill. There was even…

"Huh? What's that?" Hoshi asked, pointing to the very thing he was looking at.

"It's a Ferris Wheel," he answered.

"Heh… it's really big," she said, shielding her eyes from the sun as she craned her neck to see the top.

"Yeah," Zoro agreed.

Neither of them knew that all the Straw Hats were being watched.

The day passed happily. Zoro and Hoshi walked around, talking (Hoshi asking questions and Zoro answering). Nami followed them around, trying to mentally steer them towards each other, Sanji right on her heels. Sanji was getting increasingly agitated, and finally towards sunset, he said something.

"That bastard Marimo," he muttered as they peeked around a corner. "He'd better not touch Hoshi-chan."

Nami got a stress mark on her head. "Shut up!" she whispered. "Do you want them to find us?"

Suddenly, Zoro and Hoshi sneezed simultaneously. Hoshi rubbed her nose. "Ah, do you think someone's talking about us somewhere?"

"I don't believe in that stuff," Zoro answered.

Hoshi bought another candied rice ball and dug in, sighing with pleasure. "I wonder if Sanji knows how to make these," she wondered aloud. "They're so yummy!"

Sanji got a heart in his eye. "Ah, the passion of my love burns brighter than a flame from a star in the arching heavens," he swooned. "Yosh! I'm going to find out how to make those candied rice ba-"

"I said shut up already!" Nami whispered fiercely.

"Haaaai Nami-san!" Sanji sang.

Zoro turned. "What's wrong?" Hoshi asked. He stared at the corner suspiciously.

"… nothing," he said. Casting his gaze around to find something to keep Hoshi from questioning further, he spotted a cotton candy stand. "Hey, have you had cotton candy before?" he asked.

"What's cotton candy?" Hoshi asked, her mind instantly distracted.

Zoro bought two big puffs and gave one to her. "Try it!" he said, grinning.

Hoshi tore off a piece and put it into her mouth. Her eyes widened in surprise. "It disappeared!"

Zoro tore off a bite for himself and popped it into his mouth. "Yeah, it does that."

Two minutes later, Zoro and Hoshi were headed towards the square again, still eating their cotton candy. The sky was turning magnificent shades of royal blue and scarlet, and the little hanging lanterns started to glow. The Ferris wheel suddenly lit up, catching everyone's attention.

"Do you want to go for a ride?" Zoro asked suddenly over the din of cheering people.

"Sure!" Hoshi said, tearing off another piece of cotton candy. Looking up towards the top, she said, "I bet the view is great from up there!"

"But since you can fly, don't you see views like that all the time?"

Hoshi grinned. "It'll be a nice change, not having to fly to see the view."

They stood in line and finished their cotton candy as the stars started to come out. The operator helped them into the car, and then they were on their way up. Hoshi was looking out the windows excitedly. "Look!" she suddenly said. "I think that's Luffy!"

Zoro glanced over and sure enough, there was the straw hat, visible even from this far. He looked closer. "Oi, I think I can see Usopp too."

"I see Nami and Sanji!" Hoshi said excitedly. "And… is that Robin?"

Zoro couldn't tell from this far. They were about halfway up, but it was still about fifty feet above the ground. "It might be… though I think that you can see Chopper from a mile away."

Hoshi grinned. "You're right about that!" She stood next to Zoro and leaned on the ledge. Almost unconsciously, she put her head on his shoulder and sighed happily. He blushed a bit, but he didn't say anything.

Their car continued rising. As luck would have it though, the Ferris wheel stopped at the very top. They had a perfect view of the sky and the city sprawled below them. Hoshi looked at the stars arching overhead and was suddenly reminded of something she had to say. She tilted her head up. "Zoro?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"I… I wanted to say tha-"

**BOOM!**

A flower of colored fire lit up the sky.

**BOOM! BOOM! BOOMBOOM BOOM!**

"Fireworks!" Hoshi cried out with delight. Flowers and stars of every single color imaginable bloomed in the night sky. She straightened and leaned over the ledge for a better look. "Isn't it awesome Zoro?" she asked, turning around with a joyful smile.

"Yeah…" Even with her face dyed several strange colors by the fireworks, her happiness radiated from her entire being. Zoro felt a sense of light-headedness come over him. He reached out and stroked her cheek, hardly aware of what he was doing.

Hoshi snapped her eyes open from the unexpected touch. She first looked surprised, but then she smiled. Zoro pulled her closer, and she didn't resist as he drew her into an embrace. She leaned her head against his chest with a happy smile. This was a place she felt safe and content, here in Zoro's arms…

"Hoshi…" Zoro murmured. She looked up. He was about to say something else when suddenly the Ferris wheel started up again, catching them both off guard. Hoshi stumbled and leaned against him to avoid falling. He tightened his hold, making sure she didn't drop, but the moment was gone.

One reason it was gone might have been due to the fact that the Ferris wheel had started up at that moment… but that wasn't completely it. A voice boomed over the loudspeakers. It roared, "STRAW HAT PIRATES!!!!"

Hoshi froze. "Zoro… isn't that…?"

Zoro scowled. "Yeah. It's that shitty Marine bastard from the other day."

"WE KNOW ALL OF YOU ARE IN THE VINCITY OF THE TOWN SQUARE. GIVE YOURSELVES UP PEACEFULLY AND THERE WILL BE NO NEED TO FIGHT!"

"Look!" Hoshi yelled suddenly. Zoro glanced in the direction she was pointing. There were about twenty Marines surrounding the base.

"Damn," Zoro swore.

Hoshi narrowed her eyes. "Zoro, do you trust me?"

"What sort of a question is that at a time like this?!" Zoro demanded.

"Just answer it!"

Zoro hesitated, still baffled by the question, but he answered, "Yes."

"Good. Then jump out of the car when I say to."

"WHAT?" The car was still at least seventy feet above the ground! "Have you lost it?"

Hoshi grinned evilly. "You know I lost it the second I was insane enough to join this crew." She paused for a second, then tensed. She grabbed his hand and opened the car door. "Ready? JUMP!!"

They jumped and went headfirst, streaking through the air to the terrified screams of the passengers on the other cars. Hoshi pulled out her wings and drew them against her sides, nudging them this way and that to control their fall.

Twenty feet from the ground, she snapped them open, and the resulting cushion of air threw back all the surrounding Marines for a few seconds.

"Hoshi! Zoro!" Luffy yelled. "This way!"

They landed on the ground alright, but Hoshi fell, clutching her shoulders. "Damn," she muttered, pulling in her wings.

"What's wrong?"

"I pulled all the muscles in my shoulders when I opened my wings," she growled. She stood up and started running. "Let's hurry! These Marines are going to be up any second!"

"C'mon you guys!" Nami yelled. "Hurry up! We've go to get out of here!"

Zoro didn't feel right, but he followed Hoshi. Everyone ran down an alley, following their crazy captain.

"ESCAAPE!!" Luffy yelled gleefully. "TO MERRY!!!"

"AYE!" the rest of them responded.

"Oi, if we're going to Merry, we're going the wrong way," Sanji pointed out.

Everyone sweatdropped, but they didn't stop running since Marines were starting to flood the alleyway behind them. "How're we going to get back to the docks then?" Usopp demanded.

Robin glanced behind. "There are too many for us to fight," she commented. "And since we don't know our way around the city, that's going to be a prob-"

"Kaizoku-neechan!" yelled a girl's voice.

When everyone turned to look, Hoshi saw a flash of brown hair. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Sakura?"

"I'll show you!" Sakura laughed, running ahead of them. "I'll show you how to get to your boat!"

Luffy glanced at Hoshi. "Can we trust this girl?" he asked.

Hoshi hesitated. "I don't know about that… but considering our circumstances, that's the best choice we have."

Luffy grinned and ran faster. "Yosh! Let's go!"

Sakura fell behind a little. "Kaizoku-neechan, thanks for the money!"

Hoshi raised an eyebrow. "What money?"

The girl grinned. "The money you slipped into my pocket when you punched me!"

"Hoshi!" Nami looked shocked. "You punched a little kid?"

"She tried to steal my purse," Hoshi scowled, but a grudging grin made its way onto her face when she saw Sakura smiling so happily.

Usopp grinned. "Oi oi, you act pretty tough on little kids, but it seems like you actually have a soft spot there!"

"Ah," Sanjis sighed, getting a heart in his eye. "My love for you burns with the passion of a thousand suns upon seeing such a tender side to my prec-"

"Shut UP, you morons!!" Hoshi yelled, a stress mark appearing on her head.

Suddenly, Sakura turned down another alleyway. "This way, this way!" she called.

Sakura led them in a wide arc around the city's back alleyways, until they finally reached the dock. "Look, look!" she said, pointing excitedly. "It's your boat!"

At the other end of the dock, they all spotted the familiar figurehead. Without stopping, they all ran towards it, leaving Sakura behind. "Thanks!" Luffy yelled back. "You were a big help!"

"What are you standing like that for?!" Hoshi called. "You need to hide, the Marines are coming!"

"Haaaai!" Sakura called. "Bye bye! Thanks again!" She ran into a different alleyway and disappeared as Marines started pouring out of the alleyway they had just come from.

"Shit! They're going to reach the ship before we can cast off!" Sanji yelled.

"Yosh. Nami, Robin, Chopper, Usopp, get to the ship and prepare to cast off! The rest of us will hold them back!" Luffy shouted, stopping.

There was a stream of protests, which Zoro cut off. "Captain's orders people, move!" he yelled.

Luffy, Hoshi, Zoro, and Sanji stopped running and they waited.

The Marines ran up with a roar.

Luffy started things off. "Gomu Gomu no… GATTELING GUN!"

"Santoryuu… Tatsumaki!"

"Five Star Kick Course!"

"Everyone, move back!" Hoshi called, pulling her whip out of the air. She stretched it above her head closing her eyes. "Kaze Kakuhan… Kakyou no Kaze."

The Marines rushed forward. Hoshi's eyes snapped open. "Ichiban Kashou!" Her whip whistled at a perfect C sharp note and cracked, emitting a sharp sound wave that had all surrounding soldiers clutching their ears. She jumped into the air, letting the three guys run under her to take out the immobilized soldiers.

She winced as she landed on the ground, her shoulders protesting her recent attack. After briefly stretching, she rushed forward into the battle again.

"Luffy! Zoro! Sanji-kun! Hoshi!" Nami yelled, bringing the Going Merry around closer to the battle. "We're ready to set off!"

"Yosh!" Luffy stretched his arms. "Everyone, grab hold!"

"Damn," the three of them muttered, before moving in. Luffy waited until they all had a secure hold before releasing. "Gomu Gomu no…"

Suddenly, there was a shot, and Hoshi fell with a gasp.

"ROCKET!!"

Zoro grabbed Hoshi just before they took off. She flew along behind them, a pained look on her face, and a glance at her shoulder explained why. A silver-tipped dart protruded out of it. She was clutching his hand for dear life as they flew when another shot rang out from the dock. Her grip slackened as the second dart hit her back.

Time froze. Zoro felt Hoshi's hand slide out of his own, and she fell to land with a crash into the ocean. She disappeared from view in a spray of water... and she didn't come back up.


	14. Air

**Author's Note: LAST CHAPTER EVERYONE!! Sorry if it's a little sudden… but I SMELL SEQUEL TO COME!!! (I just also had to finish this or else I would never get any studying done!) XD**

**Disclaimer: don't own**

Chapter Fourteen: Air

Hoshi mentally screamed with rage. _Dammit, damn all those bastard Marines to a burning Hell!!!!_

The reason that she wasn't really screaming was that she was busy trying to save her air as she helplessly floated down deeper into the depths of the ocean, unable to move a single muscle. Her lungs were burning and darkness was eating at the corners of her vision.

Suddenly her stomach involuntarily caved in, making her lungs contract. Her air went spiraling up towards the surface of the water. _Shit…_

The water around her started getting colder and darker. Fear pumped through her veins. There was absolutely nothing living that she could see, and the cold was penetrating her entire being, first numbing her, then slowly freezing her. And the thing that scared her the most was that there was _absolutely nothing_ she could do about it. A flood of carefully locked memories broke free, and tears streamed out of her eyes as despair flooded her soul as painful memories flashed through her mind…

_"Damn kid, get out of here! We never would have protected you if we had known what you were!"_

_"You lied to us! Get your ass out of this village before we beat it up and hand yourself over to the World Government already!"_

_"Monster… monster, she's a monster! Die already!!"_

Hoshi curled into a ball as water started leaking into her lungs.

Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji crashed into the ship's mast. Instead of groaning and cursing Luffy, like he normally would have done, Zoro jumped straight into the water without a word.

"That idiot!" Nami muttered. "Both of them had better make it back alright."

Robin smiled.

* * *

Zoro quickly swam over to where he thought Hoshi had hit the water. He filled his lungs with air and dived… and dived… and dived… _Dammit Hoshi! How far down did you sink?!_

Visibility was going down rapidly. He could barely see anything anymore… suddenly, he saw Hoshi! A bubble floated up from her mouth. Zoro felt alarm race through him. _Damn, did she let go of all her air?!_

He picked her up under her shoulders, yanking out one of the darts while he was at it, and started swimming straight up… but the surface was so far away! He didn't know if she'd be able to make it…

Zoro scowled and pumped his legs, even though he knew that if Hoshi didn't get air in the next ten seconds, she'd probably be done for. He pulled her up and did the only thing that made sense to him… he placed his lips on hers and blew his air into her lungs. He didn't try to keep any for himself, but gave every bit of air in his lungs that he could summon, while still swimming towards the surface. His lungs and legs began to burn painfully and his heart started to pound in an attempt to keep his body supplied with oxygen… but her eyes opened! They looked at him, dazed and confused, but she still opened her eyes! A new determination fueled him, and he kicked upwards harder than ever holding Hoshi close. He was only ten meters from the surface… eight… six…

Involuntarily, he coughed but inhaled nothing but water. He paused and made a face as it choked his lungs, but he refused to give up… not now, when he was so close…

He broke the surface, coughing and gasping, spitting water out of his lungs, holding Hoshi to his chest to hold her above the water. She weakly clung to him, trying to breathe and cough out water at the same time.

"You okay?" Zoro asked the second he got his breathing under control.

Hoshi spit out some more water and gulped in air. "Z… Zoro?"

Zoro relaxed. "Yeah, it's me."

Hoshi all but melted with relief, and her whole body started to tremble. She hadn't known if the person who had saved her was a Marine or someone from the ship… her wanted poster had, after all, demanded her alive. She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes as Zoro protectively tightened his arms around her. "I… I was scared," she whispered. "The darkness…"

"It's okay now," Zoro murmured, moving one hand to cradle the back of her head. He held her protectively. "It's okay."

"ZOOOOORO! HOOOOOOSHI!!" Luffy yelled. "YOU TWO ALRIGHT?!"

"Yeah, we're fine," Zoro called back.

"Veinte Fleurs!" Robin created a chain of hands. "Grab on!" she instructed. Zoro grabbed Robin's hand, and she pulled them on board.

Hoshi felt her knees give out, and she collapsed on the deck. "S… so cold…" she gasped, hugging herself.

Chopper ran over. "You overdid it!" he scolded. "I told you not to, but you s-"

"No… that's not it…" Hoshi met the little reindeer's eyes, and suddenly Chopper saw a clear picture of all of her past pain. He froze. _Hoshi…_

"That cold feeling in the darkness of the ocean… it's the same…" Hoshi's voice broke, and she doubled over, clutching her stomach, tears leaking out of her eyes. "It's the same as all those times…!"

Hoshi stopped speaking, unable to go on.

Everyone looked at her. "Hoshi…"

"Hoshi." Luffy's eyes were shadowed under his hat. "The bottom of the sea is cold and dark, it's true. But you're not alone, and you never will be alone ever again." He offered a hand with one of his grins lighting up his face. "You're our nakama!"

A warm glow blossomed inside Hoshi, banishing her dark dreams as she remembered that she wasn't alone anymore. She took the hand with a shaky smile. "Sorry… I forgot."

"Don't forget," Luffy advised helpfully.

"STRAW HAT-SAAAAAN!!" someone yelled.

Everyone looked back. The villagers all lined the docks, blocked by the Marines. They all yelled, "THANK YOU FOR SAVING OUR TOWN!!"

Luffy laughed and waved. "No problem! Take care!"

* * *

Onshore, Sakura watched as the ship started to sail away. Some feeling grew inside her chest, a feeling of longing…

_"There's your money. Leave this kid alone now."_

_"Jeez, don't you have any manners?" _

She had watched them fight off the Marines with their amazing powers from behind a trash bin… Sakura clenched her teeth. She just KNEW that if anyone was able to help her, it would be those people… and they were getting farther away by the second.

"Kaizoku-neechan!" Sakura yelled, trying to get through. "Please… please take me with you!!" A Marine stood in her way. Without giving him a chance to speak, she punched him where it hurt and ran to the edge of the dock. She didn't stop. She jumped right into the water and started swimming after the ship. "Please!!"

Sanji sucked his cigarette. "So… what do we do?"

"She'll probably be okay," Luffy said. "The Grand Line is a dangerous place, and the Marines wouldn't hurt a k-"

**BAM!!** A gunshot hit the water next to the brown head bobbing up and down in the water.

"Oi! They're shooting at her!" Usopp yelled.

Luffy instantly changed his mind. "We need to go back!"

"We can't!" Nami called. "We're already in the outgoing current!"

"Damn!" Luffy stretched out his arm to try to reach Sakura. She saw his hand coming and reached out of the water to grab it… but the ship was too far. They had already gone farther than his hand could stretch.

Hoshi pulled out her wings. "I'll be back in a minute," she called, jumping over the figurehead. With three painful flaps, she had gained enough altitude and she flew downwards, streaking over the surface of the water. "SAKURA!" she yelled.

The girl saw her coming. Hope lit up her small face as she raised up her hands.

Dodging bullets, Hoshi scooped up the terrified girl out of the water and made a sharp turn, going back the way she had come.

"She got her!" Luffy cheered as Hoshi touched down, clutching the bundle of terrified, wet Sakura.

Hoshi pulled in her wings and set Sakura down with a sigh. She massaged her sore shoulders. "Ouch," she winced.

"Did they hit you?" Zoro asked.

Hoshi shook her head. "Nope. My shoulders are just sore from when we jumped off the Ferris wheel."

Sakura's eyes widened. "You jumped off the Ferris wheel," she repeated.

Hoshi glanced at the girl. "I'm not answering anything until you give me a good reason why I shouldn't fly back and leave you on that island."

Sakura's face hardened. Hoshi was bracing herself for a long argument when she unexpectedly turned to Luffy and bowed, touching her forehead to the ground. "Please… take me home!" she pleaded. "My home is two islands away on this Log Pose course, please take me home!"

Luffy laughed and pulled the girl into a standing position. "You didn't need to do that, you know," he informed her cheerfully. "Of course we'll take you home! You just needed to ask!"

"You hungry?" Sanji asked, starting to walk into the kitchen. "I was planning on making some rice balls since we're going to need every bit of our strength tonight."

Everyone looked at Sanji. "What are you talking about Sanji-kun?" Nami asked. Sanji pointed with his cigarette as an answer.

On the horizon, there were a fleet of ships chasing them.

"Whoa, so many!" Luffy yelled, stars in his eyes.

"This isn't the time to be admiring them!" Hoshi scolded as a cannonball was fired and landed ten meters to the right.

Nami started barking out orders to the crew so they could increase the ship's speed. Hoshi reached for the rigging when a small hand caught her sleeve. Looking, she saw Sakura. About to tell the girl to shove off, Hoshi realized how terrified the girl looked. She bent down and put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It'll be alright! Why don't you go into the kitchen and eat something? That money I gave you earlier wouldn't have bought you much… the food was awfully expensive!"

Sakura hesitated, then nodded. She ran into the kitchen just before the second cannon was fired.

"Do you want me to slow them down!?" Hoshi yelled once she had reached the mast.

"That would be great!" Nami called. Hoshi pulled out her wings and caught a breeze. Flying high into the air, she surveyed the scene below. _Fifteen ships in a 'V' formation… _

She pulled her sword out of the air. "Yo," she greeted it fondly. "It's been a while, but I'm afraid I need a sharp edge today."

Hoshi folded her wings and dropped. With all her accumulated speed, she skimmed as and swiftly cut the mainsails on all the ships. Grinning, she flew out of bullet range and circled around back to the ship. "That'll keep them busy for a while!" she grinned, touching down.

"Yosh, good work Hoshi!" Nami smiled, giving her a thumbs up. "Everyone!" she yelled. "Let's make good use of this time and get out of here!"

"AYE!"

* * *

Hoshi sat atop the crow's nest, her eyes closed and humming a little tune happily. Their adventures on that island… she knew she'd remember them forever, because it was the first one she had been on as a member of the Straw Hats.

"Had fun?" a voice asked.

Hoshi didn't open her eyes. "I thought you were sleeping," she said as Zoro pulled himself into the crow's nest.

"Nah… couldn't sleep."

Hoshi opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow at him. "You?!"

Zoro made a face. "I don't sleep THAT much."

"Yes you do."

"No I don't!"

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"No."

"Ye- hang on a second!"

Hoshi laughed. "You fell for it!"

Zoro scowled, but let it go. They stood in silence for a while, watching the stars.

"It was on a night like this you all gave me my name," Hoshi suddenly said.

"Yeah…"

She sighed and leaned back, still staring at the sky. A breeze ruffled her hair, playing with her bangs. "There's something I need to say…I have to thank you," she said.

Zoro blushed a bit and looked away. "It wasn't anyth-"

"No, it was really important." The seriousness in Hoshi's tone made him look around. "Before that night… I had seen the only person who ever truly cared about me killed before my eyes when I was ten years old, trying to protect me. Since then, people I was stupid enough to give my trust to betrayed me countless times. It was… hard." She took a deep, shuddering breath before continuing. "I was sure that I could never trust anyone again. But when you came down into the dungeons the other day, the look on your face… you _cared_ if I was going to get hurt, even though you knew I was a monster." Hoshi put a hand on her chest. "The phoenix that I was bonded with… you knew, and still… all of you still came for me." Hoshi laughed as a tears formed in her eyes.

Zoro smiled tenderly. He put an arm around Hoshi's shoulders, using the thumb on his other hand to gently wipe away her tears. She relaxed and leaned her head on his shoulder. Zoro got the impression that Hoshi was like a butterfly. She seemed so delicate and fragile, leaning against him as the vast skies arched overhead… albeit a butterfly threaded with steel wires. He pulled her closer.

"Hoshi," he murmured. She looked up. Zoro closed the space between their lips… and this time, there weren't any fireworks or Marines to interrupt. Hoshi stiffened in surprise at first, then relaxed. She returned the kiss, turning her body so she was leaning against his chest. Zoro wrapped one arm around her waist, the other hand cradling the nape of her neck and deepening the kiss. He slid his hand around to cup her cheek when they broke apart for air. She leaned her head on his shoulder and slid her hands under his arms, hugging him tight. Zoro pulled Hoshi closer. "You aren't alone any more," he whispered. "I'm always going to be here."

"Zoro…" Hoshi smiled and leaned forward, putting her forehead against his neck, feeling his solid warmth in her arm. Tears formed again at the corners of her eyes. "Thank you."

Smiling tenderly, Zoro straightened her bangs and tilted her head up, a gentle question in his eyes. Hoshi smiled and leaned up and touched her lips to his, a little butterfly kiss. Zoro took that as unspoken permission and brought his lips down to hers again. The breeze flew around them, before soaring into the night sky.

Finally, they broke apart. Zoro took Hoshi's face into his hands and tenderly kissed her tears away, before suddenly blushed a deep red and loosened his grip. He coughed slightly and turned his head away. Hoshi laughed and pushed him to the edge of the crow's nest. "Go on back to bed. How much do you want to bet that tomorrow's another hectic day?"

Zoro grinned. "When have we ever had a quiet day in this crew?"

Hoshi groaned and pushed him towards the rigging again. "Good night!" she called, hanging over the edge of the crow's nest. He smiled up before disappearing into the boy's cabin.

She sighed with happiness and looked up at the sky. Placing two fingers on her tingling lips, she thought she felt her face almost crack in two from the grin that covered her face. How could things possibly get better than they were now? It would be almost too much goodness in her life for her to handle…

Suddenly things got even better. She stared in utter amazement before laughing aloud.

"EVERYONE! WAKE UP!" Hoshi yelled. "WAKE UP!!"

The doors to the cabins burst open. "What's wrong?" Nami called.

"Man, can't a guy get any sleep?" Zoro muttered.

"Nothing's wrong!" Hoshi laughed. "Look up!"

Everyone looked up and gaped for a second. Then Luffy suddenly whooped and punched the air in delight. "SHOOTING STARS!!"

Sakura squealed and clapped her hands. "So pretty!"

Usopp grinned. "Heh, you don't see something like this every night!"

"Got that right," Sanji agreed.

Hoshi laughed. She jumped out of the crow's nest and pulled out her wings, soaring into the sky with a whoop. Whatever the damn world could throw at her now, she could face it as long as she had nakama like this on her side… and Zoro… She shook her head. She'd have to do some serious thinking about him… not exactly her forte, but she'd have to do it anyways. The thing that made her the happiest at the moment though, was that a new adventure was waiting, just beyond the barely visible horizon.

* * *

**SEQUEL UP!! "ADVENTURES ON KOBARUTO ISLAND" IF YOU LIKED THIS STORY THEN READ THAT ONE! XD**


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